Keirkegaard Fellowship

From the website of St. Olaf College:

The Kierkegaard Library offers fellowships to scholars for from two to nine weeks in duration, usually used between June 3 and August 15. Fellowships are also available at other times of year. The award includes free housing and a $300 per month stipend for food as well as access to the libraries and other facilities of St. Olaf College. Young Scholars Program stipends are $200 per month.

To apply for a fellowship, please send a letter outlining your proposed research project and reasons for wanting to use the collection. A curriculum vitae or other description of qualifications and two academic recommendations are also required. Awards are normally made to students at graduate level or to mature scholars. Advanced undergraduates are also welcome to apply (see Young Scholars Program).

Friend Request Denied

For those in and around Jacksonville, the first philosophy slam of the semester will take place Tuesday, February 9^th: “Friend Request DENIED: How Social Networks Disconnect and Damage the Individual,” featuring UNF alumnus and FSPB contributor, Dathan Auerbach. The action will begin at 7:30 P.M. at London Bridge Pub — 100 E Adams St., corner of Adams and Ocean downtown.

Can a Property be a Person? CONTEST

Alexander Pruss:

According to some versions of the doctrine of divine simplicity, God is identical with the property of divinity. I am planning on writing up a (limited) defense of this identity, and to that end I am hereby offering an argument contest with very modest prizes, with the hope of getting really good submissions to argue against in my paper (unless perhaps I am convinced by the submissions!).

Dr. Dale Jamieson on ‘The Moral and Political Challenges of Climate Change’

On Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010 I attended a lecture by Dr. Dale Jamieson, director of environmental studies at New York University, on “The Moral and Political Challenges of Climate Change” at the University of North Florida.

Dr. Jamieson noted at both the beginning and end of his lecture that the nature of global climate change presents an almost insoluble problem. He gave a brief overview of the scientific findings over the past century including the work of Drs. Arrhenius (i.) and Plass.(ii.) He went on to quote oceanographer Roger Revelle and geophysicist Hans Suess stating that by releasing the large quantities of carbon previously stored in fossil fuels into the atmosphere, humans are conducting a giant geophysical experiment without considering the results.(iii.) There is much evidence to suggest that climate change is caused by man, and groups such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have concluded that this is the case.(iv.) Nevertheless, Dr. Jamieson would not acknowledge that there are literally hundreds of other reputable climatologists from respected universities who discount the theory that human beings are making a significant impact upon the earth’s climate. (V.) He did note that the progression of climate change would not be affected for over a thousand years even if action to reverse the process were to begin to be taken today.

How much money does it take to solve the free will problem?

The answer is, apparently, $4.4 million. I received an email from FSU.com this morning with the news that Professor Al Mele of Florida State University (my alma mater) received this substantial Templeton Foundation grant to fund research on the problem of free will.

Awards of this sum in philosophy are few and far between. Professor Mele’s receipt of this award is surely laudable. And I think it raises some interesting issues about academia generally.

In science, reliance on this kind of funding from outside of institution has been commonplace for sometime, due mainly to the intensely high costs of scientific equipment, specialized labor, etc. Most scientific enterprises within academia rely almost entirely on funding from outside sources. And although philosophy departments and individual philosophers are frequently awarded grants or receive donations and endowments, it is not (as far as I can see) the central source of funding for most philosophical work.

CFP: Bioethics Conference

From the National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference:

We are emailing to request undergraduate presentation proposals for the 2010 National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference. Submit your abstract now because the deadline for submissions is January 25th!

Interested students can find the presentation proposal form on our website at www.nubc2010.org/submissions.html.

The 2010 NUBC will be held March 26th-27th and will focus on this year’s theme, “Bioethics in Obama’s America.” The conference will be held at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA and will be the first time the annual conference will take place on the West Coast.

The Truth About Socrates

Was Socrates suicidal?

Science, Induction, and the Positive Relevance View of Evidence

“They say that Understanding ought to work by the rules of right reason. These rules are, or ought to be, contained in Logic; but the actual science of logic is conversant at present only with things either certain, impossible, or entirely doubtful, none of which (fortunately) we have to reason on. Therefore the true logic for this world is the calculus of Probabilities, which takes account of the magnitude of the probability which is, or ought to be, in a reasonable man’s mind.”

James Clerk Maxwell, quoted in Jeffreys (1967) p 1.  

Experimental Philosophy …

… at FSU. Check it out, here or here. (HT: Jonathan Phillips)

Study Philosophy Abroad

[MOVING TO THE FRONT FROM DEC. 21, 2009]

… with Dr. Alissa Hurwitz Swota (UNF), May 17 – 28, 2010.

About the Program: This Study Abroad experience is aimed at philosophy majors and those planning to pursue a career in health professions. The objective is to provide students with concrete experience of the ethical values involved and how they are addressed in the everyday practice of health care delivery.

In particular, students will reflect on how various moral quandaries involved in decisions regarding the allocation of scarce health care resources are addressed at present and how they could be better addressed in the future.

CFP: The Politics of Peace

Society for Continental Philosophy & Theology
April 16-17, 2010
Messiah College
Grantham, PA

Keynote Speakers:

• Catherine Keller (Drew University)
• William T. Cavanaugh (University of St. Thomas)

CFP: Truth Matters

Toronto, August 18-20, 2010

We live in an age of skepticism about the idea of truth. Contemporary skeptics question the nature and value of truth and the concomitant virtue of truthfulness. Skepticism about truth is not restricted to popular culture. It occurs within the academic world, where deflationists have argued that the idea of truth is not a substantive notion and some poststructuralists have portrayed it as primarily the scene of struggles for power. Such skepticism is surprising, for truth and truthfulness have been central to Western civilization and the academic enterprise. Historically, the idea of truth has helped organize Western intellectual culture since ancient times. It is a central theme in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the three monotheistic religions that have shaped Western society. Conceptually, the idea of truth sets a stage for fundamental debates about the point and worth of academic work: debates between realists and anti-realists in philosophy, theology, and the natural sciences, for example, or between relativists and anti-relativists in the humanities and social sciences. Societally, the idea of truth provides a normative background for ethics, law, and public discourse: we expect friends and colleagues to be truthful; we ask witnesses in courts of law to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”; and we get upset when journalists deliberately fabricate their reports.

Mixing Religion with Politics

This published today in the Jacksonville Observer

It is impossible to keep religion out of politics. Why, you ask? Because a few folks involved in politics actually know God, and others have strong religious beliefs that supersede and drive their political agenda.

Our religious beliefs may have everlasting significance. In comparison, the history of the United States spans less than three-hundred years. Our First Amendment right of religious liberty ensures that each man and woman has the right to seek the truth about the existence of God without interference from the government. Our First Amendment right of freedom of association recognizes that we join with like-minded individuals in order to ensure that our political, social, religious, and philosophical beliefs will prevail. This is the essence of politics.

CFP: The Cardinal Virtues

2010 Theme: Wisdom

Viterbo University

La Crosse, Wisconsin

April 15-17, 2010

The 2010 conference is the culmination of a series of four conferences on the cardinal virtues. We invite papers examining the meaning, history, and practical implications of the idea of wisdom as a virtue.  Submissions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives are encouraged.

Presentations may include the following topics:

CFP: “Metaphysics: Old and New”

The Society of Christian Philosophers, Eastern Regional Meeting
March 12-13, 2010
Wake Forest University
Winston Salem, NC

Plenary Speakers:

CFP: Intermountain West Philosophy Conference

7th Annual Intermountain West Student Philosophy Conference

March 11-13, 2010

Keynote Speaker: Darrel Moellendorf (San Diego State)

Paper submissions on any philosophical topic are invited.

CFP: Georgia Philosophy Symposium

Annual Georgia Student Philosophy Symposium

April 10, 2010

Keynote speaker: David Schmidtz (Arizona)

Undergraduate and graduate students in all disciplines encouraged to submit their work on any philosophical topic.

National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference

Details here.

Conference Speakers Confirmed

Excellent news: Michael Rea (Notre Dame) and Laurie Paul (UNC-Chapel Hill) have accepted our invitations to be the plenary speakers for the 14th annual Northeast Florida Student Philosophy Conference. The conference will take place October 9, 2010.

Get your papers ready. The CFP will be out in the spring.

Lolitaville

You and your friend are in Lolitaville in search of Vladimir Nabokov’s recently released and incomplete novel, The Original of Laura, and happen upon two bookstores: R and L. You know without a doubt that the sole copy of Laura in Lolitaville is in one (but only one) of the two bookstores, but are unsure which exactly. You also know that whichever bookstore you enter, your friend will enter the other; which is problematic, because you really want to read the book before s/he does.

Now let us presume the population of Lolitaville consists of exactly two types of people: inveterate liars and uncompromising truthtellers, both of which are utterly indistinguishable from each other. All you know is that liars must lie and truthtellers must tell the truth. Let us further presume that each and every inhabitant- whether liar or truthteller- knows exactly which bookstore has Laura for sale. Now, you must ask a question and time permits you to ask one and only one to one and only one inhabitant. To complicate matters, the question must be polar (i.e. answered by either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’).

Alas! the question: Given the above conditions, what question would you ask in order to know, without a doubt, which bookstore you ought to enter?

P.S. For those with whom I have before discussed this, I challenge you to find another answer besides the one expected above.

Ethics Bowl Results: Southeast Region

Congratulations to the members of UNF’s Ethics Bowl team (Andrew Brenner, Brock Moore, Edgar Aroutiounian, Ted Locke, and Aaron Kenna) who advanced from the Southeast Regional competition this weekend to the national Ethics Bowl, which will take place in Cincinnati in March 2010.

Congratulations, as well, to USF-St. Petersburg, the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of Alabama-Birmingham, UCF, and (especially) to the regional winner, Eckerd College, with whom UNF advanced.

CFP: Pacific University

14TH ANNUAL PACIFIC UNIVERSITY

UNDERGRADUATE PHILOSOPHY CONFERENCE

April 16-17, 2010

Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon, USA

Keynote speaker: Alvin Plantinga (Notre Dame)

Update on UF’s Graduate Program

Gene Witmer, Chair of the Department at the University of Florida, offers the following update on their graduate program. (HT: Leiter Reports)

“Miracles” and “Semantics”

Congratulations to Andrew Brenner whose “‘Of Miracles’ — What, Precisely, Was Hume’s Point?” was featured in the most recent edition of the Philosophers’ Carnival.

Belated congratulations to Aaron Kenna whose “A Note on the Semantics of First-Degree Entailment” was featured in the previous edition.

Simon Blackburn estimates that the amount spent on the recent bank bailout could fund his department for 10,000 years.

Simon Blackburn responds to the query sent to academics by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The query was part of BIS’s review of postgraduate education provision in the UK.