Samuele Chilovi (CSIC) and Dan López de Sa (ICREA & UB): New Work for a Theory of Authoritative Normativity?

Martes 3 de noviembre de 2026 @11:30 (CET) Sala B. Edificio de Humanidades, UNED & online

Abstract There has been a growing surge of interest within metaethics in an asymmetry in normative importance, captured by the distinction between formal and authoritative normativity (Baker 2017, 2018; Dasgupta 2017; Gerritsen 2025; Howard & Laskowski forthcoming; McPherson 2016, 2018; McPherson & Plunkett 2025, forthcoming; Vollmer forthcoming; Wodak 2019). This paper evaluates this distinction and the notion of authoritative normativity on which it rests. The upshot is somewhat critical. While the notion was introduced to do certain theoretical work, we argue that the various roles it was meant to play are better kept distinct, since no single notion plays them all. Moreover, these roles are mostly filled by notions we already had, so to the extent that authoritative normativity plays an important role, it does so in combination with these preexisting notions.

Bio Samuele Chilovi is a Ramón y Cajal fellow at the Institute of Philosophy (IFS) at CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas). Prior to this, he has held research positions at the University of California Los Angeles, Pompeu Fabra University, and Glasgow University. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Barcelona, and a law degree from the University of Bologna. He works primarily in social metaphysics, philosophy of law and metaethics.

Dan López de Sa is an ICREA Research Professor at the Universitat de Barcelona and member of POLIS—Research Group on Social and Political Philosophy, within BIAP—Barcelona Institute of Analytic Philosophy. His work focuses mainly on social philosophy—particularly on issues around the will, sex, and value. His research has appeared in journals such as Analysis, Mind, and Noûs.