Events
Philosophy Department
Ned Block: "Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious"
Humanities 2, Room 259There are reliably reproducible strong brain activations that have little or no reportability and for that reason could be said to be unconscious, but can become reportable with a shift of attention and do not have many of the signature properties of unconscious states. This lecture discusses whether these states might be phenomenally conscious in […]
Mikkel Johansen: Material and Social Conditions for the Development of Mathematics
Humanities 2, Room 259Mathematical knowledge has traditionally been taken to be absolutely objective, i.e. completely independent of contingent facts about the agents who discover the results. Today, this absolutistic view of mathematics has been challenged by a number of different theories. Most noticeably, social constructivists such as David Bloor and Donald MacKenzie have stress the influence social factors […]
CANCELLED: Eric Schwitzgebel: "The Moral Behavior of Ethics Professors"
Humanities 2, Room 259Do professional ethicists behave any morally better than do non-ethicists of similar social background? If not, do they at least show greater consistency between their normative attitudes and their outward behavior? Despite a long philosophical tradition associating philosophical reflection with improved moral behavior, these questions have never been empirically examined. I describe four possible models […]
CANCELLED: Abe Stone: "Why Does Space Have More than One Dimension?"
Humanities 1, Room 202At least once a quarter the Philosophy Department hosts a Works-in-Progress presentation by a member of the faculty. The format may vary from a traditional talk to a communal environment allowing for ideas to be tested and feedback solicited. All members of the campus community and interested public are welcome to attend. Coffee, tea, and […]
Eric Schwitzgebel: "The Moral Behavior of Ethics Professors"
Stevenson Fireside Lounge Humanites 1 University of California, Santa Cruz Cowell College, Santa Cruz, CA, United StatesDo professional ethicists behave any morally better than do non-ethicists of similar social background? If not, do they at least show greater consistency between their normative attitudes and their outward behavior? Despite a long philosophical tradition associating philosophical reflection with improved moral behavior, these questions have never been empirically examined. I describe four possible models […]
Works in Progress: Abe Stone
Humanities 2, Room 259Please join the Philosophy Department for a Works-in-Progress presentation by Professor Abe Stone. At least once a quarter the Philosophy Department hosts a Works-in-Progress presentation by a member of the faculty. The format may vary from a traditional talk to a communal environment allowing for ideas to be tested and feedback solicited. All members of the […]
Rebecca Kukla CHANGED TO MARCH 6: "The Sedimentation of Bias in Medical Institutions"
Stevenson Fireside Lounge Humanites 1 University of California, Santa Cruz Cowell College, Santa Cruz, CA, United StatesAbstract: Bias is becoming an increasingly central topic in both moral psychology and bioethics. We have ample evidence that biases shape our interactions, including interactions between health professionals and patients, in complicated and penetrating ways that are resistant to first person access and to manipulation. Typically, biases are presumed to be distortions at the level […]
Felipe De Brigard: "The Explanatory Indispensability of Memory Traces"
Humanities 2, Room 259Abstract: Many philosophers of memory have wondered whether or not it is indispensible to postulate the existence of memory traces to explain remembering. In this talk I will offer an argument in favor of the explanatory indispensability of memory traces. To that end, I will begin by demonstrating that the main arguments in favor of […]
NEW DATE & LOCATION: Works in Progress: Samantha Matherne
Stevenson Fireside Lounge Humanites 1 University of California, Santa Cruz Cowell College, Santa Cruz, CA, United StatesPlease join the Philosophy Department for a Works-in-Progress presentation by Professor Samantha Matherne. At least once a quarter the Philosophy Department hosts a Works-in-Progress presentation by a member of the faculty. The format may vary from a traditional talk to a communal environment allowing for ideas to be tested and feedback solicited. All members of the […]
Shelly Wilcox: "Immigration Justice in Nonideal Circumstances"
Humanities 2, Room 259Abstract: In recent years, political philosophers have begun to interrogate the methodology they use to construct normative principles. Some have voiced the concern that prevailing liberal egalitarian principles are constructed under idealized assumptions and thus are ill-suited to real-world circumstances where such assumptions do not apply. Specifically, critics have raised three related objections to so-called […]