Susana Cadilha

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

PhD in Ethics and Political Philosophy (2017)

Bio note

I undertook my BA in Philosophy at FLUP - Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto, and received my PhD in Ethics and Political Philosophy (2017) from the same institution, before arriving at IFILNOVA as a post-doctoral researcher, currently working at EPLAB (Ethics and Political Philosophy Laboratory). My area of expertise is metaethics and the subject of my doctoral dissertation was the natural foundations of ethics, focusing on the characterization of moral agents and their ethical decision-making processes, in an attempt to assess what naturalistic accounts of morality might contribute to moral philosophy.

Before coming to IFILNOVA, I was Invited Assistant Professor at FLUP - Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto, and at Católica Porto Business School (undergraduate courses of Economics and Management) from 2011 to 2015. I was also Guest Researcher at NIEHS – National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (North Carolina – EUA), where I was trained in bioethics, focusing on the ethical problems of scientific investigation. I was co-principal investigator of the Project “Conversations on Human Action and Practical Rationality” (funded by FLAD - Fundação Luso-americana para o Desenvolvimento) and Project Fellow of the Project “The Bounds of Judgment - Frege, cognitive agents and human thinkers” (PTDC/FILFIL/109882/2009), funded by FCT. In 2005, I was awarded Eng. António de Almeida Prize and an academic-based scholarship for having graduated with the highest classification.

I teach and write in the areas of ethics, metaethics and philosophy of action, with a special interest in the evolution of morality. I am interested both in questions concerning the range of metaethics, the status of moral judgements and the place, if any, for moral value in the world; as well as cognitive and psychological issues about the nature of an agent capable of morally evaluating actions and states of affairs.

Academic expertise and Research Interests

 Ethics and Political Philosophy;  Metaethics; Philosophy of Action; Practical Rationality; Moral psychology; cognitive and evolutionary Psychology.

Publications

Books

• S. Cadilha, O que é agir moralmente? Razão, Natureza e Meta-ética, FLUP - Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto, 2017. (Doctoral Dissertation)
• S. Miguens, S. Cadilha, P. Tunhas (eds.), Ser ou Não Ser Kantiano, Lisboa, Edições Colibri, 2015.
• S. Miguens e S. Cadilha, John McDowell – uma análise a partir da filosofia moral, Lisboa, Edições Colibri, 2014.
• S. Miguens e S. Cadilha (eds.), Frege e Intérpretes de Frege, Lisboa, Edições Colibri, 2014.
• C. Mauro, S. Miguens e S. Cadilha (eds.), Conversations on Human Action and Practical Rationality, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.
• S. Miguens e S. Cadilha (eds.), Acção e Ética – Conversas sobre racionalidade prática, Lisboa, Edições Colibri, 2011.
• C. Mauro, S. Miguens & S. Cadilha (eds.), Mente, Linguagem e Acção – Textos para discussão, Porto: Campo das Letras, 2009.

 Book Chapters and Journal Articles (last 3 years)

• Susana Cadilha, “Meta-Ética”, in A. Marques e A. Santos Campos (coord.), Dicionário de Filosofia Moral e Política, 2ª série, Instituto de Filosofia da Nova, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2018.

• Susana Cadilha, "John McDowell on practical rationality - is he (really) talking about us?", in Essays on Values and Practical Rationality – Ethical and Aesthetical Dimensions, Peter Lang, 2018.

• Susana Cadilha, “Naturalização da ética – o que significa?”, in Maria Formosinho e Paulo Jesus (coord.), Ética – indagações e horizontes, Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra, 2018.

• Susana Cadilha, "Judging morally - John McDowell between Kant and Aristotle", Proceedings of the Conference Theories of Judgement and Cognitive Attitudes (Miguens & Martínez, eds.), USC: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 2015.
• Susana Cadilha, “John McDowell e os juízos morais”, in John McDowell - Uma análise a partir da filosofia moral, Lisboa, Colibri, 2014.

Scientific posters

• Susana Cadilha, Why should moral objectivity be threatened by evolutionary explanations of morality? - International Scientific Conference Humboldt-Kolleg – The Limits of Knowledge, 2017.

Dissemination/press articles

• Susana Cadilha e Carlos Mauro, "Ética para Humanos - a ética e a ciência comportamental", Jornal Porto 24, Dezembro/2016.