2003 - 2004

September

Philosophy Talks

Sep. 25th, '03 at 6:30pm in Everest Lounge
John Caputo, Villanova University
Deconstruction and Religion: The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida

Philosophical Café

Sep. 17th, '03 at 7:00pm in Humanities Lounge; 2nd Floor
Felmon Davis, Union College
Separation of Churge and State

October

Philosophy Talks

Oct. 9th, '03 at 4:30pm in Humanities 213
Linda Patrik, Union College
Letting Philosophy Go: The Role of Reasoning in Kagyü Tibetan Buddhism

Oct. 23rd, '03 at 4:30pm in Humanities 213
Stewart Shapiro, Ohio State University
Humpty Dumpty on Vagueness

Philosophical Café

Oct. 29th, '03 at 7:00pm in Humanities Lounge; 2nd Floor
Allen Stairs, University of Maryland
Being Religious in a Secular Environment
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November

Philosophy Talks

Nov. 6th, '03 at 6:30pm in Everest Lounge
Sydney Shoemaker, Cornell University
On the Way Things Appear

January

Philosophy Talks

Jan. 8th, '04 at 4:30pm in Humanities 213
Mary Coleman, Bard College
The Road to Modest Constructivism: A Discussion of the Role of Intuition in Practical Reason Theory

Jan. 22nd, '04 at 6:30pm in Everest Lounge
Dan Garber, Princeton University
Ghosts: Some Philosophical Reflections on Things that go Bump in the Night

Philosophical Café

Jan. 14th, '04 at 7:00pm in Humanities Lounge; 2nd Floor
David Kaczynski, Executive Director, New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty
The Death Penalty: Just Punishment or Legal and Ethical Nightmare?

What do YOU believe?

According to a recent Harris poll, 69% of Americans say they support the death penalty, while 95% believe that at least some of those sentenced to death are actually innocent. On average, poll respondents believe that 11% of those sentenced to death are innocent.

How do we understand the seeming contradiction in what people think about the death penalty? Or that the US is the only western industrialized nation that still uses the death penalty? Or that we are the only country in the world that has executed a juvenile offender in the last three years?

February

Philosophy Talks

Feb. 5th, '04 at 4:30pm in Humanities 213
Susan Wolf, University of North Carolina
The Meanings of Lives

Feb. 19th, '04 at 4:30pm in Humanities 213
Ishani Maitra, Syracuse University
What is a Norm of Assertion?

Philosophical Café

Feb. 26th, '04 at 7:00pm in Humanities Lounge; 2nd Floor
Andi Lyons, University at Albany and David Lefkowitz, University of Maryland
Should Same-Sex Marriage be Legal?

March

Philosophy Talks

Mar. 4th, '04 at 4:30pm in Humanities 213
Carol Rovane, Columbia University
Personal Identity: Ethical Not Metaphysical

April

Philosophy Talks

Apr. 15th, '04 at 4:30pm in Phi Beta Kappa Room, Shaffer Library
Elizabeth Harman, New York University
Vagueness and the Moral Status of Fetuses

Apr. 29th, '04 at 6:30pm in Everest Lounge
Jerry Fodor, Rutgers University
Concepts: What Are They?

Philosophical Café

Apr. 7th, '04 at 7:00pm in Humanities Lounge; 2nd Floor
Bill Vitek, Clarkson University
Running on Empty: Why We Can't Have It All

According to William Vitek, we in the West grew up in and are shaped by a relatively new, thoroughly Western world view, which began with John Locke, Francis Bacon, Rene Descartes, and Adam Smith. According to this view limitless economic growth is possible, knowledge is cumulative and chases out ignorance, and progress, defined as continual increases in goods and knowledge, is both possible and necessary.

Vitek will make the case for why this worldview is both mistaken and dangerous. First, the modern world is thermodynamically challenged, and is coming up against real and non-negotiable energy limits. Second, the pursuit of knowledge actually creates ignorance and uncertainty, modern Towers of Babel, and a "let's-just-try-it-and see-what-happens" attitude that in the face of uncertainty is creating dangerous outcomes and possibilities. Third, real social and economic progress is increasingly available to fewer and fewer people clustered at the very top, and will become even more scarce as population and energy/material needs increase, and available resources decrease.

The good news in all of this is that admitting we can't have it all will reduce our daily stress, our debt, and our anxiety about the future. More importantly, accepting limits will require new and creative solutions, systems, curricula, and an alternative worldview. It's a great time to be a philosopher!

May

Philosophy Talks

May. 13th, '04 at 4:30pm in PBK Room, Shaffer Library
Robin Jeshion, Yale University
Singular Thought and the Identity of Indiscernibles

May. 27th, '04 at 6:30pm in Everest Lounge
Jaegwon Kim, Brown University
Agency and Self-Knowledge