New papers by KIP’s Deguchi and Gabriel published in the journal of the Kyoto Philosophical Society

The journal is published by the Kyoto Philosophical Society, a distinguished academic society founded in 1916. It originated from the former Department of Philosophy at Kyoto University’s Faculty of Letters, and its committee members continue to be faculty members from its successor departments today. (https://www.bun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kyoto-tetsugaku-kai/)

Professor Deguchi’s paper, titled “WE-turn of Values: Principles,” explores the axiological implications of his proposed “WE-turn.” In the paper, Deguchi employs “value enactivism,” a framework that links the concept of value to bodily actions. From this standpoint, he derives a WE-turn for various value concepts, including ethical good, responsibility, rights, freedom, and well-being. Notably, he introduces “well-going” as a dynamic concept of well-being rooted in enactivism. He also proposes a “fellowship model” as an ideal for the relationship between humans and artificial agents like AI and robots, offering an alternative to the traditional “master-slave model.”

Professor Gabriel’s paper is titled “The Universal as an Ongoing Achievement: The Practice of Generating and Universalizing Ethical Knowledge.” In his article, Gabriel re-examines ethical universalism, framing the universal not as a pre-given principle but as an “achievement” that is continuously generated through the practices of agents in concrete situations. He critiques “generalism”—as seen in Kantian ethics and utilitarianism—for its practical failure to deduce specific duties from general principles, highlighting policy decisions during the pandemic as a key example. Gabriel argues that ethical judgment should be based on the act of “universalizing,” which is constructed within each situation, rather than on fixed principles. While acknowledging the existence of “moral facts,” he presents a view where these facts are not reducible to a single system but are constantly updated within an interdependent, network-like reality.

You can purchase the papers at this link.