William Albuquerque is currently a third-year graduate student at University of California San Diego, working within value theory – particularly issues related to moral responsibility. He previously did his Masters at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and completed his undergraduate studies at Bowdoin College.
What are you working on right now?
I’m currently working on a paper that evaluates the prospects of a response-dependent account of moral responsibility. P.F. Strawson’s highly influential paper, ‘Freedom and Resentment,’ posited an essential relation between so-called ‘reactive attitudes’ and blameworthiness. Since then, most have assumed that this relation must be response-independent; that is, it must be an agent’s prior blameworthiness that explains why it is appropriate to have certain reactions towards her. However, sophisticated response-dependent accounts of value – in particular, ‘fitting attitude’ theories – potentially challenge this orthodoxy. These accounts have the resources to address some of the challenges that previously ruled out response-dependent accounts, while also offering advantages over response-independent theories. Still, I argue that these more sophisticated accounts are still too response-dependent to deliver a univocal conception of moral responsibility (or blameworthiness).
What is your favorite sound in the world?
Distortion. I like a lot of music that features distortion – metal, punk, lo-fi, noise etc. Some people find this sound very grating, but I find it rather soothing. Mindfulness is this very popular concept lately. I’ve even tried a meditation app to help me sleep and focus as my mind has a tendency to be overactive and wander. However, I’ve also noticed that loud distortion also clears my mind, and allows me to be more present. So, I guess I’m saying that if you want greater mindfulness you can either try meditation or Metallica (or both!).
What is your favorite film of all time? (Or top 3). Why? To whom would you recommend them?
I know it’s sort of a cop out to not answer this question directly, but I don’t think I could even do a top three. Part of the issue is that I have divergent tastes that I don’t know how to compare. For instance, although I like plenty of classic ‘good’ movies, I’m probably best known (i.e. infamous) among friends for my love of ‘bad’ movies. The prototypical ‘so bad it’s good’ movie is probably The Room, whose production was recently dramatized in a James Franco film. How does one compare something like The Room to a classic, like Chinatown? There’s a paper to be written about incommensurability issues here (if there isn’t one already). Having said all that, I recently watched Tokyo Story, which is often floated as the greatest film ever made. I won’t commit on that, but I do think everyone with parents should watch it. That’s a joke, but I also mean it.
What are you reading right now? Would you recommend it?
I’m currently reading Moby Dick (very slowly). I never read it in high school, when I think most people read it, but it kept popping up in random conversations for a few weeks, so I decided I should give it a go. I must say, I’ve been pretty blown away so far. It might have the best opening chapter of any book I’ve read, and it’s just littered with these profound insights about humanity. I also really enjoy how Melville mixes a number of different literary styles, and embeds all these literary allusions. In general, I often like reading (or sometimes re-reading) these ‘classics’ that get assigned to high-schoolers. I’m not sure how much students get out of these texts at that age – especially when they aren’t choosing to read them – but I find them really rewarding to read now. Sometimes the classics are classics for a reason, I guess.
What’s your poison? (Favorite drink.)
When I was in college, I developed some sort of allergy to beer. To make matters worse, I was writing a beer column at the time. I tried some gluten free beers, as this didn’t seem to set off the allergic reaction, but there weren’t many good options available at the time. Because of this, I ended up totally shifting to drinking liquor, and eventually became fairly obsessive about spirits and cocktails. If you asked around my department, people would probably identify me as someone who is really into tiki. I will not use this platform to launch into a rant about how tiki drinks have been debased and misunderstood, but instead just note that the recent revival means that it’s easier than ever to get a good one. My favorite is a classic, the zombie, but please don’t have more than one (maybe two).
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Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
