SU Graduate Philosophy Conference April 3-4 features seven invited speakers

SU Graduate Philosophy Conference April 3-4 features seven invited speakersMarch 27, 2009Rob Enslinrmenslin@syr.edu

Philosophy of science, value theory and history of philosophy are among the topics being covered at this year’s Syracuse University Graduate Philosophy Conference April 3-4. The event, which is free and open to the public, features presentations by five graduate students from around the country and two established philosophers: Kenneth Baynes, professor of philosophy at SU, and Nathan Hanna G’07, the Uihlein Fellow of Ethics at Lawrence University in Wisconsin.

The conference runs Friday, April 3, from 3:30-9:30 p.m. in Room 500 of the Hall of Languages and Saturday, April 4, from 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. in Kittredge Auditorium of H.B. Crouse Hall. For more information, call the SU philosophy department at (315) 443-4501 or visit http://philosophy.syr.edu.

Co-organizers Kelly Anne McCormick and Aaron Wolf, both doctoral philosophy students, say the conference is one way the University maintains a high profile in a competitive field. “Each year, we invite graduate students nationwide to speak on a wide range of topics,” says McCormick, referring to this year’s lineup of presentations, which covers topics as diverse as the moral status of pornography and the nature of eternal truths. The conference, founded in 1993, is one of the oldest of its kind in the country.

On April 3, Jonah P.B. Goldwater, a doctoral student at The City University of New York, will present a lecture titled “Physicalism, Hempel’s Dilemma and the Rejection of Intrinsic Properties” from 3:30-4:15 p.m., and Eric Campbell, a doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego, will discuss “Nietzsche’s Free Spirits and the Beauty of Illusion” from 5-6:15 p.m. Hanna, who specializes in ethics and political philosophy, will conclude the Friday program with “Resurrecting the Problem of Evil” from 7-8:45 p.m.

The following day features four presentations. Billy Cameron, a master’s student at the University of Western Ontario, will discuss “Pornographic Performers: Representations for Arousal and Moral Distinctions of Pornography” from 10-11:15 a.m.; Kristopher Phillips, a doctoral student at the University of Iowa, will present “Defending the ‘Immutability Interpretation’ of Descartes on Eternal Truths” from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m.; and Jada Twedt Strabbing, a doctoral student at Princeton University, will cover “Understanding Attributability” from 2:15-3:30 p.m. Baynes, whose specialty is critical theory and modern German philosophy, will conclude the conference with the keynote address, “Self, Narrative, and Self-Constitution: Revisiting Taylor’s ‘Self-Interpreting Animals,” from 4:15-6 p.m.

Housed in The College of Arts and Sciences, SU’s graduate program in philosophy provides opportunities for concentration in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language and history of philosophy, with emphasis on early modern philosophy or on 19th- and 20th-century French and German philosophy. Interdisciplinary concentrations are also available campus wide in law, psychology and linguistics. The M.A. and Ph.D. degree programs reflect the department’s commitment to pursuing current philosophical issues in a context of respect for the history of philosophy. SU maintains a strong relationship with the philosophy departments of Cornell University and the University of Rochester, fostering creative collaborations in and out of the classroom, chiefly through The Andrew W. Mellon Central New York Humanities Corridor.

More information about The College of Arts and Sciences and the philosophy department is available at http://thecollege.syr.edu.