Ofra Magidor, the new distinguished Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at the University of Oxford, was invited to address the Oxford University Chabad Society at a Shabbat dinner in honour of her new appointment. Ofra completed her studies in Philosophy, Mathematics, and Computer Science in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and received a BPhil and DPhil from the University of Oxford. Her main areas of research are Philosophy of Logic and Language, Metaphysics, and Epistemology. The Waynflete Professorship of Metaphysical Philosophy is the oldest of the four professorial fellowships at the University of Oxford endowed by Magdalen College in honour of the college founder William of Waynflete in 1857. Ofra is the second woman to be elected to the Waynflete Professorship in over 150 years.
The topic of her lecture touched on the metaphysics of reasons, distinguishing between different types of reasons. She explained that there are normative reasons, explanatory reasons, and motivating reasons. She showed that a very natural view is that something can only be a motivating reason if it is true. But she also showed that this natural view entails a very surprising conclusion: that when people have false beliefs they often act for no reason! Much discussion followed this fascinating talk that gave much insight in the challenges of human behaviour.