November 2, 2023, by leykr5

#SocietySpotlight: A PhilSoc Debate

As the next instalment of our #SocietySpotlight series, I’m going to take you through my first PhilSoc debate of the year.

I joined PhilSoc during Welcome Week when I wasn’t too sure about joining a society but thought it could be a good way to make friends on my course. I was given an invite to a debate called ‘Do transformative experiences mean we can’t make rational decisions?’ and so many great resources on the topic.

However, the chaos of Fresher’s took hold and with all the new people and places… I forgot to do any reading! I was so nervous arriving at the debate: How much did everyone else know? Would I look stupid if they asked me a question? Who would I speak to? I took my seat firmly at the back of the room.

But I needn’t have worried! Two members of the philosophy department, Karl and Tom, led the debate and talked through the basics of Laurie Paul’s paper – which the question was built on. Karl agreed with Paul and argued that we can have unexpected experiences that radically change our values, beliefs and identity meaning that we cannot make rational decisions because we cannot understand what the outcome will mean to our future self. 

I felt this was a convincing argument and, when we broke out into discussions, I brought up the example of having a baby. It’s hard to decide whether to have a baby because it is a transformative experience and you cannot know how you’ll feel after having the baby. The person next to me, Leah, told me she’d read something similar in this paper and told me to check it out.

Tom then gave us his view. He aimed for our concept of rationality suggesting that it is subjective based on the current self. Taking the baby example, he said that deciding to have a baby based on current preferences is not irrational – even if you regret it after having the baby. I asked a few questions and he said that the current idea of rational decision making could be found here.

I had so much fun at the debate and went home to read more about it. Paul did a podcast about transformative experience and this helped me understand a little more, there’s a related talk on Irreversible Enlightenments soon too! What do you think about transformative experience?

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