Busy times: Emergence-fest, AAP
It’s mid-March, and we’re all gearing up for a very busy few months at UOW Philosophy. In addition to our regular schedule of visiting speakers this term, we’re hosting a two-day workshop April 12th and 13th on Emergence, Dynamics, and Cognition – aka Emergence-fest. Not all of the talks will be about emergence, but they’ll all be interesting. Participants will include Adele Abrahamsen, Bill Bechtel, Brett Calcott, Mirko Farina, Richard Menary, Jon Opie, Rob Rupert, Liz Schier, Karola Stotz, and Kellie Williamson. If you’re interested in joining in, contact Patrick.
Emergence-fest is just a warm-up for the main act this year, which is the 2012 AAP conference. The conference runs July 1st-6th, and we’re expecting a few hundred philosophers to philosophize the ‘Gong. Our keynote speakers are Rebecca Kukla, Galen Strawson, and Rob Wilson, and we’re planning a variety of activities to keep everyone busy around the conference. For instance, if you need a break from talks, you can always skydive the beach.
For more AAP info, check out the conference site, or contact the organizers at aap-2012@uow.edu.au
We’re hiring!
UOW Philosophy’s much anticipated new senior position has finally been approved. This is a level E position, equivalent to a Full Professor in North America. We’re looking for an experienced researcher/teacher who can contribute in fields such as Applied Ethics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind/Cognition, and/or Philosophy of Science. Applicants should also have a strong record of research leadership, with experience in winning national competitive grants.
A more detailed position description can be found at http://employment.uow.edu.au/jobapp/, position number 24094.
The closing date for applications is 31 January, 2012.
We’re a small but energetic group of philosophers looking for a colleague who’s interested in working with us to elevate UOW Philosophy a step further. We are looking for a candidate who will complement our existing strengths and help expand and develop our program.
For more information, contact Patrick McGivern, Philosophy Program Convenor at patrickm@uow.edu.au or by phone at +61 2 4221 5676
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Upcoming hire
We expect to be advertising soon for a new position in Philosophy at the University of Wollongong. This will be a senior position (level E), and the main AOS will be Philosophy of Mind/Cognition. Look for more information here as soon as the ad is officially released.
UOW Philosophy Seminar: David Simpson (Wollongong), “Inferential Virtues”
UOW Philosophy is very pleased to have Dr. David Simpson (UOW) speaking at the final meeting of the Philosophy Research Seminar series this term. All are welcome to attend.
Title: Inferential Virtues
When and where: Wednesday, October 26th, 4:30pm in 19.1003
Abstract: The possibility of epistemic luck has long provoked a Pyrrhonian disdain of finding gold in the darkness, but the attempt to devise an account of knowledge that accounts for this intuition stumbles when confronted by Gettier-style scenarios. Recently Pritchard has suggested that an appropriate combination of virtue epistemology and anti-luck epistemology will meet the Pyrrhonian’s needs. I suggest that this solution at least depends on a satisfactory incorporation of pragmatist insights – specifically aspects of inferentialism – if it is to satisfactorily account for the place of epistemic agents.
Robert Sparrow in the ‘Gong
UOW Philosophy is very pleased to have Dr. Robert Sparrow (Monash) visiting on Wednesday, October 12th, to present a paper at our Research Seminar series. All are welcome to attend.
Title: Enhancement and Obsolescence: Avoiding an “Enhanced Rat Race”
When and where: Wednesday, October 12th, 4:30-6:30 in 19.1003
Abstract: An increasing number of philosophers are now taking seriously the possibility that in the not-too-distant future it will become possible to enhance human beings in various ways, making them stronger, faster, more intelligent, longer lived, and perhaps even “post-human”. A claim about continuing technological progress plays an essential role in this literature. Advocates for enhancement typically point to the rapid progress being made in the development of biotechnologies, information technology, and nanotechnology as evidence that we will soon be able to achieve significant improvements on normal human capacities through applications of these technologies. In this paper, I will argue that – should it eventuate – continuous improvement in enhancement technologies may prove more bane than benefit. A rapid increase in the power of available enhancements would mean that each cohort of enhanced individuals will find itself in danger of being outcompeted by the next in competition for important social goods – a situation I characterise as an “enhanced rat race”. Rather than risk the chance of being rendered technologically and socially obsolete by the time one is twenty-five, it may be rational to prefer that a wide range of enhancements that would generate positional disadvantages that outweigh their absolute advantages be prohibited altogether. The danger of an enhanced rat race therefore constitutes a novel argument in favour of abandoning the pursuit of certain sorts of enhancements.
Dr. Robert Sparrow is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Philosophical, Historical and International Studies at Monash University and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, at the University of Sydney.
Sarah Sorial book published
We’re all very happy to congratulate Sarah Sorial on the publication of her book Sedition and the Advocacy of Violence: Free Speech and Counter-Terrorism, with Routledge. Sarah is an ARC Postdoctoral Fellow here at the University of Wollongong, and she’ll be joining us as a full-time staff member in Philosophy in 2012.
Here’s the book’s own blurb:
This book employs the theoretical framework of ‘speech act theory’ to analyse current legislative frameworks and cases pertaining to sedition or the advocacy of violence and the issue of freedom of speech. An analysis of the relation between speech and action offers a promising way of clarifying confusion over the contested status of speech, which advocates violence as a political strategy. This account reflects an understanding of philosophical issues about both the nature of freedom and speech and how these issues can be applied to concrete legal problems.
John Sutton in the ‘Gong
We’re doing a bit of a variation on our usual visiting speaker series tomorrow night and hosting our first ‘Philosophy in Film’ event at UOW. We’ll be watching the 2000 thriller ‘Memento’ and we’ll have Prof. John Sutton from Macquarie’s Centre for Cognitive Science to talk about the film and problems of memory. Admission is free and all are welcome.
The film will start at 5:30 in room 19.G016. Bring your own popcorn!
Jakob Hohwy in the ‘Gong
UOW Philosophy is very pleased to have Dr. Jakob Hohwy (Monash) visiting on Wednesday, September 7th, to present a paper at our Research Seminar series. All are welcome to attend.
Title: Phenomenally social – the private and public nature of conscious experience
When & where: Wednesday, September 7th, 4:30-6:30 in 19.1003
Abstract: Conscious experience is usually portrayed as so inherently private that its actual role in our cognitive lives becomes deeply puzzling. This talk discusses a solution to this puzzle, suggested by social cognitive neuroscience: that the role of conscious experience is in fact social. Introspected conscious perception is for joint decision-making, and our experience of agency and choice is for common knowledge and social cohesion. Part of the proposal is that conscious experience can play this public role, not in spite of the privacy, but in virtue of the privacy.
This seminar is funded by UOW’s Institute for Social Transformation Research, as part of the Cognitive Niche Construction project.
For more information, contact Patrick McGivern at patrickm@uow.edu.au
Piero Moraro in the ‘Gong
We’re very pleased to have Dr. Piero Moraro (Charles Sturt University) speaking at the UOW Philosophy seminar series next week. All are welcome to attend.
Title: Persuasive Force and Liberal Autonomy: How Violent Protest Can be Democratic
When: Wednesday, August 24th at 4:30pm
Where: UOW, building 19, room 1003.
Abstract: In this talk, I analyse the relationship between civil disobedience and non-violence in a liberal democracy. Since Rawls’ definition in 1971, there has been general agreement that for an act of social protest to be compatible with the rules of a democracy it has to be ‘non-violent’. That is, it has to be an attempt to persuade, rather than coerce, others that a particular law need be revised or repealed. According to this view, while a peaceful protest can represent a valuable form of communication in a democratic society, and lead the majority in power to understand the protesters’ plea, violent protests constitute an attempt to coerce the majority in power to yield to the activists’ demand, and are incompatible with the values of a liberal democracy. I will question this idea, arguing that a protest involving force or violence does not necessarily constitute a ‘coercive’ act. Drawing on the work of Joel Feinberg, Gerald Dworkin, and Joseph Raz, I will argue that acts that force people to act in a certain way are not necessarily disrespectful of their autonomy. Rather, the duty to respect others as autonomous choice-makers might require, under some circumstances, using force or even violence to address them. First, I will propose that the notion of ‘autonomy’ be kept distinct from that of ‘freedom’. Second, I will argue that the infringement of one’s freedom might be necessary to protect and promote her autonomy. If this is tenable, we then have an argument to the conclusion that both non violent and (some forms of) violent civil disobedience can be justified in a liberal democracy as persuasive acts of communication that treat fellow citizens as autonomous agents.
For more information, contact Patrick McGivern at patrickm@uow.edu.au
Thomas Pogge in the ‘Gong
UOW Philosophy is very pleased to have Professor Thomas Pogge (Yale/ANU) speaking at our seminar series on Wednesday, August 10th. All are welcome to attend.
The title of Professor Pogge’s talk will be “Global Justice”. The seminar will be held at 4:30pm in room 19.1056 (please note the change from our usual room for this occasion).
Professor Pogge is Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale University, and a Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at ANU. He is internationally renowned for his work on global poverty, global health, and global justice, as is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts in moral philosophy and ethics.
