On the 23rd of June, Professor Chen Zhen from Nanjing Normal University presented a lecture on “How to Gain normative Knowledge”. Professor Chen distinguished between descriptive and normative knowledge, analysed the degree of certainty in normative knowledge, articulated thought experiments about the ideal state of gaining normative knowledge, and proposed the means of raising the degree of certainty of normative knowledge. Professor Chen argued that though descriptive knowledge is different from normative knowledge, they are related because the former may inspire people to give relevant norms. Normative knowledge was usually concrete and related to the situation of the subject. Therefore, gaining normative knowledge with certainty required the subject to be in the ideal state. Based on relevant thought experiments, Professor Chen proposed various means to raise the degree of certainty of normative knowledge, including impartiality, democratic decision-making procedure, and the increase of useful information. After the lecture, Professor Chen communicated with the participant on relevant issues.
