We have the pleasure to invite you to another research seminar in the ‘BIOUNCERTAINTY’ research project. This week Tomasz Żuradzki will give a talk: "Who are the worst off? Prioritarianism and time". The seminar will take place on Thursday 25th of May at 5:30 p.m. in the room 25 on Grodzka Street and via MS Teams.

Abstract

Derek Parfit’s seminal presentation of prioritarianism states: “Benefiting people matters more the worse off these people are” (Parfit 1997). This view has been thoroughly discussed in philosophy, healthcare ethics, and healthcare economy, but even among those who agree that the worst off should be given some priority, there is no agreement on who counts as ‘the worst off’. The main discussions in this matter within the healthcare domain focus on divergent dimensions, e.g., the definition of health-related welfare and the significance of non-health related welfare; the importance of age; the significance of the individual past, current, and future states, etc. The dimension on which I concentrate in my talk is the dynamic aspect of being among the worst off, that is, different ways one can conceptualize someone as the worst off over time.