Sinja Hofmann

PhD project

Working title:

Judgmentalism: A Conceptual and Moral Investigation

Supervisors:

Prof. Dr. Monika Betzler (LMU), Prof. Dr. Anne Meylan (UZH)

We judge other people all the time. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, in many cases it’s just necessary. But sometimes we overdo it. A particularly good example of bad judging seems to be the phenomenon of “judgmentalism.” However, it is unclear exactly what phenomenon judgmentalism describes and how it differs from other and related phenomena. The first part of the thesis therefore deals with the conceptual question of what judgmentalism actually is and what we should understand by it. I defend the thesis that judgmentalism consists in a certain finality in the formation and expression of judgment. The second part of the thesis deals with the moral investigation of the phenomenon: Is judgmentalism morally wrong, and if so, why? What moral rules and/or duties do we violate when we are judgmental? Are there unproblematic forms of judgmentalism? I argue that judgmentalism is often wrong because it is a violation of the duty to suspend judgment and a violation of neutrality.

The work is funded by a doctoral scholarship from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation.

Selected publications

• Hofmann, Sinja & Simon Stromer (2023): Polyamorie und Freundschaft. Zeitschrift für Praktische Philosophie 10(2): 161-188.