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.

“Of Miracles” — What, Precisely, Was Hume’s Point?

Submitted for your consideration, a hastily written polemic. I would like to see what others think of this situation.

“Aquinas on Eternity, Tense, and Temporal Becoming”

Congratulations to FSPB contributor Andrew Brenner (UNF) for winning the FPA’s Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Philosophy Paper! Andrew will present his paper — “Aquinas on Eternity, Tense, and Temporal Becoming” — on Friday, November 13th at 5:00 P.M. at the FPA’s second plenary session.

“Ted.com: Ideas Worth Spreading”

I came across this website just recently and thought it was worth sharing with any community of thoughtful people.

www.ted.com is a collection of brief lectures (between 5 and 10 minutes) on topics ranging from environmentally friendly construction to evolution. Each themed section presents a pretty eclectic selection of presenters, like this section on ‘How the Mind Works’, which contains lectures from Daniel Dennet, Stephen Pinker, Philip Zimbardo, and even the current first lady. Though the lectures may be short and simple, they do provide a certain kind of intellectual entertainment that isn’t always easy to find. Enjoy!

“Variations in Ethical Intuitions”

Congratulations to FSPB contributor Jen Zamzow (Arizona) on the publication of her article, “Variations in Ethical Intuitions,” in Philosophical Issues! Here is the abstract:

Philosophical theorizing is often, either tacitly or explicitly, guided by intuitions about cases. However, recent empirical work has suggested that philosophically significant intuitions are variable and unstable in a number of ways. This variability of intuitions has led naturalistically inclined philosophers to disparage the practice of relying on intuitions for doing philosophy in general and for doing moral philosophy in particular. In this paper, we introduce into the debate some neglected naturalistic reasons to be optimistic about intuitions, focusing especially on ethical intuitions. Philosophers of science have long celebrated the importance of diversity for scientific progress. Similarly, we argue, we should celebrate the diversity in ethical intuitions. In science, diversity leads to greater recognition of errors and background assumptions; something similar is likely true for ethical theory. In addition, we argue that there is a natural psychological explanation for why diversity would lead to improved reasoning in individual scientists – disequilibrium and motivated reasoning stimulate sharper criticism and evaluation. The cognitive virtues afforded by disequilibrium and motivated reasoning would also extend to reasoning in the ethical domain. Thus, there are good reasons for moral theorists to welcome the variations in ethical intuitions.

Pediatric Bioethics Conference

On Saturday, November 7th, the Second Annual Pediatric Bioethics Conference will take place at UNF. The conference is free for students. Here is the announcement:

Two-Year Post Doc

In the event that information about this Post Doc didn’t make it into the most recent Jobs for Philosophers, here it is:

A Note on the Semantics of First-Degree Entailment

Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes- Walt Whitman

 

Dialetheists, notably Graham Priest and, apparently, Walt Whitman, contend we may, under certain circumstances, ascribe truth to contradictions. A dialetheia is by definition a proposition, p, that when conjoined to its negation, ~p, produces a true evaluation, such that (p & ~p) is true.

The Relevant Alternative Theory of Knowledge

[ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: MOVING TO THE FRONT (FROM AUGUST 15)]

Epistemic agents claim to know that-P within a context of competing alternative propositions, {A1, A2… An}, all of which would be as equally consistent with the facts as P, but necessarily exclude P, such that:

If some one member of {A1, A2… An} were true, then that-P would be false.

Philosophers Just Miss the Top Ten

The news is here. Being number 12 isn’t all that bad in this context.

“Is Economic Growth Sustainable?”

For those in and around Jacksonville, the Jacksonville University Philosophy Club will host a philosophy slam — “Is Economic Growth Sustainable?” — featuring Elizabeth Porter (JU) on Tuesday, October 13, 2009 at 7:30 P.M. The slam will take place at London Bridge Pub: 100 East Adams Street, at the corner of Adams and Ocean, Downtown Jacksonville. For more information contact Erich Freiberger.

Is Freud Back in Fashion?

Neuroskeptic thinks not.

Markets and Morality

An interview with Elizabeth Anderson. Here’s the overview from Philosophy Talk:

Does the free market provide incentives for behavior that is problematic from a moral perspective? Or does the free market punish morally problematic behavior? Is respecting the free market itself moral, insofar as respecting the free market is also respecting individual freedom of choice?

“A Dearth of Women Philosophers”

“Do women shun philosophy because of its climate of aggressive argumentation?”

The New York Times “Idea of the Day” is here. (HT: Kevin Timpe)

Health Care and Letting Die

[ADMINISTRATIVE NOTE: The issue at hand in this post is whether people have positive rights. Please focus comments on that issue.]

The following exchange developed here. Since the issue deserves attention in and of itself, here it is, beginning with a proposed answer to the question “Should we let a cancer patient die just because s/he is poor?”

AARON: The answer is yes.

Career Advise for Philosophers

Here, compliments of Inside Higher Ed.

“Monty Python and The Meaning of Life”

For those in and around Jax tomorrow:

UNF’s Philosophy Club will host this year’s first ‘Philosophy Movie Night’ tomorrow. The feature will be “Monty Python and The Meaning of Life.” The event will take place in Building 57/1270 at 7:00 P.M. There will be free food and drinks and a philosophical discussion, led by UNF’s Mike Bailey, after the movie!

“Mind, World, and the Space in Between”

The Third Annual USF Graduate Student Conference

March 5th and 6th, 2010

Keynote Speaker: Colin McGinn (Miami)

Deadline for submission: December 15, 2009

Ask Philosophers

This site might help introduce people to professional philosophical discussions. Your thoughts?

William P. Alston, 1921-2009

From James K. A. Smith (Calvin College) via the Society of Christian Philosophers:

Linda Zagzebski sadly informed us that Bill Alston, 87, died earlier today, September 13, 2009, at his home in Jamesville, NY. [...] A key figure in the founding of the Society of Christian Philosophers, Bill was a past president of both SCP and the Central APA and made significant contributions in the fields of epistemology and philosophy of religion. His work, leadership, and exemplary model of Christian philosophy has inspired many.