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Philosophy events, week of 13th October

Research seminars next week (more information):

  • Frank Durgin (Swarthmore College), “The angular expansion hypothesis of locomotor space perception” and “What is “embodied perception” the embodiment of? A critical review,” at Glasgow’s Philosophy, Psychology, and Neuroscience Research Seminar on Monday, 13th October, and Wednesday, 15th October.
  • Toby Meadows (University of Aberdeen) at Glasgow’s Senior Seminar on Tuesday, 14th October.
  • Robin McKenna (University of Vienna) at Edinburgh’s Epistemology Research Group on Wednesday, 15th October.
  • Jennifer Corns (University of Glasgow), “Hedonic rationality,” at Stirling’s Visiting Speaker Seminar on Thursday, 16th October.
  • Nancy Cartwright (Durham University/University of California, San Diego), “Predicting what will happen when we intervene,” at Edinburgh’s Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Debates on Thursday, 16th October.
  • Helen Steward (University of Leeds) at Edinburgh’s Visiting Speaker Seminar on Friday, 17th October.

Other events next week (more information):

  • Derek Ball (University of St Andrews) at St Andrews’ Philosophy Society on Monday, 13th October.
  • iCog2: Perspectives on Learning, Edinburgh, 15th – 16th October.  Speakers: Andrew Philippides (Sussex), Jean-Marc Dewaele (Birkbeck), Szu-Han Wang (Edinburgh), Alex Doumas (Edinburgh).
  • Symposium on Recanati, St Andrews, 16th – 17th October.  Speakers: Jonas Åkerman (Stockholm), Imogen Dickie (Toronto), Manuel García-Carpintero (Barcelona), Rachel Goodman (Leeds), Simon Prosser (St Andrews), Francois Recanati (Institut Jean Nicod).
  • Alan Weir (University of Glasgow) at Edinburgh’s Philosophy Society on Thursday, 16th October.
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Political Thought in the Early Modern Period

Hosted by the Institute of Intellectual History, St Andrews
The 5th North Sea Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy
Political Thought in the Early Modern Period
Friday 10 – Saturday 11 October, Hebdomadar’s Room, St. Salvator’s Quad, St Andrews
Keynote speakers: Hannah Dawson (NCH) and Lena Halldenius (Lund)
Full programme:
To register, please contact James Harris at jah15@st-and.ac.uk
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Philosophical Quarterly essay prize: deadline approaching

A reminder that the deadline for the Philosophical Quarterly essay prize is 1st November, 2014.  Details are here and pasted below.

The Philosophical Quarterly invites submissions for its 2014 international prize essay competition, the topic of which is ‘Humans and Other Animals’.

What lessons can we learn from thinking about our relations with non-human animals? For instance:

  • What are the differences, and what are the similarities, between capacities for cognition and agency in humans and other animals?
  • What moral constraints, if any, are there on our treatment of them?
  • Which theoretical perspective gives the best answers to questions about the morality of our relations with non-human animals?
  • Might it be our moral duty to prevent animals from harming each other?
  • Are there good moral objections to eating meat from animals genetically engineered to be unconscious?

We welcome submissions of 8,000 words or fewer addressing these or other questions about humans and other animals.

Essays should be typed in double spacing. Electronic submission is preferred and contributions may be sent as email attachments to pq@st-andrews.ac.uk. Most formats are acceptable, but PDF is preferred.

Alternatively, non-electronic submissions may be sent to the address below. Three copies of each essay are required and these will not be returned. All entries will be regarded as submissions for publication in The Philosophical Quarterly, and both winning and non-winning entries judged to be of sufficient quality will be published. The closing date for submissions is 1st November 2014.

All submissions should be headed ‘Human’s and Other Animals’ Prize Essay Competition (with the author’s name and address given in a covering letter, but NOT in the essay itself) and sent to:

The Journal Manager
The Philosophical Quarterly
University of St Andrews
KY16 9AR
Scotland
UK

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Philosophy events, week of 6th October

Research seminars next week (more information):

  • Patrick Todd (University of Edinburgh) at Glasgow’s Senior Seminar on Tuesday, 7th October.
  • Ophelia Deroy (University of London), “Multisensory integration, and the many unities of consciousness,” at Edinburgh’s Philosophy, Psychology, and Informatics Reading Group on Wednesday, 8th October.
  • Nick Treanor (University of Edinburgh), “The Proper Work of the Intellect,” at Stirling’s Visiting Speaker Seminar on Thursday, 9th October.

Other events next week (more information):

  • Ben Sachs (University of St Andrews), “Should universities be required to set aside places for impoverished students?,” at St Andrews’ Philosophy Society on Monday, 6th October.
  • Tom Cochrane (University of Sheffield) at Edinburgh’s Philosophy Society on Thursday, 9th October.
  • Political Thought in the Early Modern Period (North Sea Seminar for Early Modern Philosophy), St Andrews, 10th – 11th October.  Speakers: Hannah Dawson (New College of the Humanities), Lena Halldenius (Lund University), Adamas Fiucci (Chieti), Johan Olsthoorn (LSE), Veronika Szanto (Eotvos Lorand University), Steph Marston (Birkbeck), Alfonso Vergaray (California University of Pennsylvania),  Martin Otero-Knott (Cambridge), Annelien De Dijn (Amsterdam), Jan Kvetina (Charles University).
  • Non-Alethic Aims of Enquiry, St Andrews, 11th – 12th October.  Speakers: Derek Ball (St Andrews), Nancy Cartwright (Durham/UCSD), Jane Friedman (NYU), Allan Hazlett (Edinburgh), Juha Saatsi (Leeds), Andreas Stokke (Umea).
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Keynote and PG speakers for SPA Annual Meeting: Driver and Peet

The Scots Philosophical Association Annual Meeting will be held this year at the University of St Andrews on 5th and 6th December.  Julia Driver (Washington University in St Louis) will be our keynote speaker, and Andrew Peet (University of St Andrews/University of Stirling) will present “Testimonial Knowledge Without Knowledge of What Is Said” in the postgraduate session.

The programme will be finalized soon; we expect the meeting to begin at 14:00 on Friday, 5th December, and conclude around 13:00 on Saturday, 6th December.  Watch this space for information on how to register for the meeting.

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Philosophy events, week of 29th September

Research seminars next week (more information):

  • Keith Allen (University of York) at Glasgow’s Senior Seminar on Tuesday, 30th September.
  • Erik Wielenberg (DePauw University), “Empirical Moral Psychology and Some Challenges to Moral Knowledge,” at St Andrews’ Philosophy Club on Wednesday, 1st October.
  • Lee Walters (University of Southampton), “The Polysemy of Fictional Names and Predicates,” at Stirling’s Visiting Speaker Seminar on Thursday, 2nd October.
  • Robin Hendry (Durham University), “Essentialism in chemistry: problems and prospects,” at Edinburgh’s Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Debates on Thursday, 2nd October.
  • Holly Lawford-Smith (University of Sheffield) at Edinburgh’s Visiting Speaker Seminar on Friday, 3rd October.
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Philosophy events, week of 22nd September

Research seminars next week (more information):

  • Patrice Haynes (Liverpool Hope), “Religious Diversity and the Feminist Subject: A Perspective from Feminist Philosophy of Religion,” at Dundee’s Visiting Speaker Seminar on Wednesday, 24th September.
  • Dorothea Debus (University of York), “‘Mental Time Travel’: Remembering the Past, Imagining the Future, and the Particularity of Events,” at Edinburgh’s Philosophy, Psychology, and Informatics Reading Group on Wednesday, 24th September.
  • Amber Carpenter (University of York), “Plato on Restricting Knowledge to Make Room for Belief,” at Stirling’s Visiting Speaker Seminar on Thursday, 25th September.

Other events next week (more information):

  • Alistair Isaac (University of Edinburgh) at Edinburgh’s Philosophy Society on Thursday, 25th September.
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Philosophy events, week of 15th September

Research seminars next week (more information):

  • Michael Otsuka (London School of Economics), “Personal Identity and the Significance of Becoming,” at St Andrews’ Philosophy Club on Wednesday, 17th September.
  • Michael Otsuka (London School of Economics), “How it Makes a Moral Difference that One is Worse Off than One Could Have Been,” at Stirling’s Visiting Speaker Seminar on Thursday, 18th September.
  • Martin Kusch (University of Vienna), “Epistemic Relativism and Skepticism: Three Problems,” at Edinburgh’s Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Debates on Thursday, 18th September.
  • Vasilis Politis (Trinity College Dublin), “Definition by Example in the Hippias Major: Plato’s anticipation of, and response to, Geach,” at Edinburgh’s Visiting Speaker Seminar on Friday, 26th September.
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A Thousand Plateaus and Philosophy

The Scottish Centre for Continental Philosophy presents a workshop on ‘A Thousand Plateaus and Philosophy’.

Taking place at the University of Dundee on 12th September 2014, the workshop aims to provide a forum for the reconsideration of Deleuze and Guattari’s work, and to develop connections between established scholars and students working in this area. It involves a series of workshops on Deleuze and Guattari’s most important work, A Thousand Plateaus. The workshop is open to all, but interested parties are asked to register with Professor James Williams in advance (see below).

There will be three workshops focusing on A Thousand Plateaus each at a centre of Deleuze scholarship. A Thousand Plateaus is composed of fifteen plateaus, and each workshop will deal with a selection of these. The workshops will allow speakers to engage with the different perspectives of other speakers through a collaborative close reading of the texts. An edited collection based on these workshops will be published by Edinburgh University Press.

See the full workshop programme here

For enquiries and to register please contact Professor James Williams (j.r.williams@dundee.ac.uk).

This workshop is funded by the Scots Philosophical Association and the Arts & Humanities Research Institute (AHRI).

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Call for Papers: Themes from Smith and Rousseau

The International Adam Smith Society and the Rousseau Association will hold a joint meeting at The University of Glasgow July 20th -22nd 2015. The conference aims to bring together scholars with an interest in the work of either or both of these thinkers with a view to stimulating discussion of their shared interests and the relationship between two prominent members of the Enlightenment.

The conference aims to explore the ideas and shared concerns of Adam Smith and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.  Proposals for papers are invited on any aspect of Smith, Rousseau, or their shared intellectual interests including (but not limited to) pitié, sympathy, commerce, freedom, nature and science. Given the aim of the conference the organisers are particularly keen to invite papers that deal with both Smith and Rousseau.

Further details can be found on the websites

http://www.adamsmithsociety.net/

http://rousseauassociation.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/default.htm

Please submit a title and abstract to Dr Craig Smith University of Glasgow (Craig.Smith@glasgow.ac.uk).

Deadline for submissions of interest: 1st January 2015.

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Call for Papers: PG session at 2014 SPA Annual Meeting

The Scots Philosophical Association invites submissions of papers to be presented at its 2014 Annual Meeting, to be held on 5th and 6th December, 2015, at the University of St Andrews.  This call is open (and only open) to students at Scottish universities in at least the third year of a philosophy PhD programme.  Papers of no more than 3,000 words, on any area of philosophy, should be prepared for blind review and sent to the Secretary (scotsphil@gmail.com) by 1st September, 2014.  Up to two papers will be selected for presentation at the meeting; authors will have accommodation and travel expenses covered.

For more information on the Association: http://www.scotsphil.org.uk/

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Philosophy events, week of 14th July

Next week:

  • Mental Fictionalism, Edinburgh, 14th – 15th July.  Speakers: Emily Caddick Bourne (Cambridge), Gregory Currie (York), Tamás Demeter (Phil. Institute Hungary), Dan Hutto (Wollongong), Ted Parent (Virginia), Adam Toon (Exeter), Meg Wallace (Kentucky).
  • Wilfred Hodges, “Ibn Sina uncovers a subtle mistake in Aristotle’s modal logic,” St Andrews, on Tuesday, 15th July (11:00, Edgecliffe G03).
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Philosophy events, week of 30th June

Events next week:

  • Action and Self-Consciousness, Stirling, 30th June – 1st July.  Speakers: Anton Ford (Chicago), Adrian Haddock (Stirling), Alexandra Newton (Illinois), Will Small (Oslo), Sebastian Rödl (Leipzig), Michael Thompson (Pittsburgh).
  • Film-Philosophy 2014, Glasgow, 2nd – 4th July.  Speakers: Laura U. Marks (Simon Fraser University), Lúcia Nagib (University of Reading), Patricia Pisters (University of Amsterdam), William Brown (University of Roehampton).
  • Suffering and Reason, Glasgow, 4th – 6th July.  Speakers: Marilyn McCord Adams, Fabrizio Benedetti, Michael Brady, Marcel Brass, Giorgio Coricelli, Jennifer Corns, Matthew Fulkerson, Manolo Martinez, Stephane Lemaire, Donna Lloyd.
  • Metaphysical Basis of Logic/Relativism and Rational Tolerance Workshop, Aberdeen, 4th-6th July.  Speakers: Thomas Brouwer, Andreas Fjellstad, Greg Restall, Filippo Ferrari, Alexandra Plakias, Graham Priest, Francesco Berto.
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Philosophy events, week of 23rd June

Events next week:

  • Fallibilism and Evidence, St Andrews, 23rd – 24th June.  Speakers: Jessica Brown (St Andrews), Juan Comesaña (Arizona), Daniel Greco (Yale), Maria Lasonen-Aarnio (Michigan), Matthew McGrath (Missouri), Baron Reed (Northwestern), Jonathan Vogel (Amherst).
  • Quine, Science, and Naturalism, Glasgow, 25th June.  Speakers: Derek Ball (University of St Andrews), Frederique Janssen-Lauret (University of Campinas), Bryan Pickel (University of Edinburgh).
  • Graduate Epistemology Conference, Edinburgh, 27th – 28th June.  Keynote speakers: Sanford Goldberg (Northwestern University), Susanna Siegel (Harvard University).
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Philosophy events, week of 9th June

Events next week (more information):

  • Kant and Schopenhauer, Ethics and Aesthetics, St Andrews, 13th June. Speakers: Sandra Shapshay, Jens Timmerman, Kate Moran, Adrian Piper.
  • Legal Reasoning, Virtue, and Politics, Edinburgh, 13th – 14th June.  Speakers: Julia Annas (University of Arizona), Frederick Schauer (University of Virginia), Talbot Brewer (University of Virginia), Lawrence Solum (Georgetown University), Josep Joan Moreso (Pompeu Fabra University), Duncan Pritchard (University of Edinburgh), Antony Duff (University of Stirling), Kimberley Brownlee (University of Warwick), Iris Van Domselaar (University of Amsterdam), Maks Del Mar (Queen Mary University of London).