Speaker Series: Nic Bommarito (Simon Fraser University)

Abstract: When you read this sentence, you’re looking at black letters that make up the words. But you’re also looking at a white background that is both necessary for and implied by those black letters. Taking this general lesson and applying it to the realm of ethical theory, I’ll discuss the importance of background virtues: virtues are necessary for the existence of more traditional foreground virtues like honesty and generosity. Thinking about background virtues provides a different way of understanding aspects of moral life that often go unnamed and unnoticed.