Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

SU’s annual SPAWN conference, Aug. 9-11, focuses on causation, teleology in Early Modern philosophy

Friday, July 31, 2009, By News Staff
Share

SU’s annual SPAWN conference, Aug. 9-11, focuses on causation, teleology in Early Modern philosophyJuly 31, 2009Rob Enslinrmenslin@syr.edu

Causation and teleology, central themes of Early Modern philosophical discussion, are at the heart of the Syracuse Philosophy Annual Workshop and Network (SPAWN) conference, running Aug. 9-11 at Syracuse University. This year’s conference is titled “Nature and Purpose in Early Modern Philosophy” and involves more than 40 distinguished participants and attendees from North America, including keynote speaker Daniel Garber of Princeton University.

Debates related to causation and teleology were common in the 17th century, and their outcomes shaped how we think about these notions today. Disagreement arose over shifting conceptions of the nature of causality. Aristotle, whose philosophical framework was dominant in the Middle Ages, identified four different types of cause: material, formal, efficient and final. The material cause is the stuff out of which a thing is made. The formal cause is its shape or structure. The efficient cause is the source of a change (e.g., fire burns wood or a spider spins a web). The final cause is the end, purpose or goal of an activity, organism or artifact. Final causality is also teleological; “telos” being Greek for “end,” “purpose” or “goal.”

Early Modern philosophers, including Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz and Locke, rejected or modified aspects of Aristotle’s account of causality, especially his use of final causes in physics. Their reasons for doing so, and the competing alternatives they offered, are the focus of current research in the history of Early Modern philosophy. Participants in this year’s SPAWN conference include several scholars whose work challenges previous accounts of causality from this period. Their work illuminates understanding of the nature of causal relations and the scope and purpose of causal explanation.

One of SPAWN’s distinguishing features is the unique interplay between junior and senior speakers. At most conferences, the senior speakers give major addresses, while junior speakers provide commentary; here, it’s the other way around. This year’s event includes seven senior speakers, eight junior speakers and Garber, an expert on philosophy, science and society during the Scientific Revolution. Garber is currently researching Aristotelianism and its opponents in 17th-century France.

Founded in 2005 by Tolley Professor and former philosophy chair Robert Van Gulick, SPAWN is an invitation-only conference made possible by the Alice Hooker ’34 Endowed Fund for Philosophy. Past themes have been perception (2008), practical reason (2007), value (2006) and consciousness (2005). Major funding for this year’s event is provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Central New York Humanities Corridor, an interdisciplinary partnership with SU, Cornell University and the University of Rochester that is also a major initiative of the SU Humanities Center.

For more information and updates about SPAWN, contact Kara Richardson and Melissa Frankel, co-organizers and assistant professors of philosophy, at (315) 443-4501, or visit https://papresco.mysite.syr.edu/SPAWN2009/HOME.html.

SU’s nationally recognized philosophy department is one of the crown jewels of The College of Arts and Sciences. More information about The College, is available at http://thecollege.syr.edu/.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Men’s Soccer Team Gives Back to Syracuse Community for Season of Support
    Friday, June 2, 2023, By Kathleen Haley
  • June 30 Deadline Set for Fiscal 2023 Year End Business
    Wednesday, May 31, 2023, By News Staff
  • DPS Accepting Sign-Ups for R.A.D. Summer Session
    Wednesday, May 31, 2023, By Alex Haessig
  • Syracuse Stage Adds 2 Musicals to 50th Anniversary Season
    Wednesday, May 31, 2023, By Joanna Penalva
  • Supporting, Advocating for Trans Youth Will Help Them Thrive As Adults
    Friday, May 26, 2023, By Daryl Lovell

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse Views Spring 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Awards of Excellence Honoree: Maxwell has Been ‘a Guiding Hand’ in Public Service Career

Standing before an audience of fellow Maxwell School alumni gathered in Washington, D.C., for the second annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez ’09 shared the motivation behind his work as a journalist. Sanchez emigrated from Cuba as…

NASA Honoring Those Who Were Aboard Space Shuttle Columbia And Other Late Astronauts

Sean O’Keefe, University Professor in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for the USA Today article “Twenty years later, loss of space shuttle Columbia still teaches us lessons.” The article emphasizes how NASA’s Memorial Grove is used to honor late astronauts,…

NFL, Eagles and Chiefs All Set To Win The Economics Game In Super Bowl LVII

Rodney Paul, director and professor of sport analytics in the Falk School, was quoted in the Washington Examiner story “The economics of the Super Bowl: Hosting, gambling, ads, and more.” The article talks in-depth about all of the economics that…

CEOs Requiring In Person Work Is Hurting Diversity

Arlene Kanter, director of the Disability and Policy Program and professor in the College of Law, was interviewed for the Business Insider article “Some CEOs are pushing workers to return to the office, but it could come with a cost:…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.