Philosophy@Western

Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Science

The Department of Philosophy at The University of Western Ontario invites applications or nominations for the Rotman Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Philosophy of Science to begin July 1, 2011. The Canada Research Chair program has been established by the Government of Canada to enable Canadian universities to foster research excellence and enhance their role as world-class centers of research. Further information on the program is available on the CRC web site at http://www.chairs.gc.ca.

We are seeking an innovative leader and established scholar in any area of Philosophy of Science, broadly construed. The successful candidate will play a key role in the academic leadership of the Joseph L. Rotman Institute for Science and Values (http://www.rotman.uwo.ca).  The position represents an exciting opportunity for experienced individuals who are recognized internationally as leaders in their field and who are currently in the rank of Professor or Associate Professor. Salary is negotiable and commensurate with qualifications and experience.   This position would be at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor with Tenure.

Review of applications will begin on September 1, 2010 and will continue until the position is filled.

All Chairs are subject to review and final approval by the CRC Secretariat. Applications including a curriculum vitae, a writing sample, a teaching dossier and a description of a 5-7 year research plan and the names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of three potential referees to: Professor Samantha Brennan, Chair, Department of Philosophy, Stevenson Hall, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B8.

Positions are subject to budget approval.   Applicants should have fluent oral and written communication skills in English.  All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.  The University of Western Ontario is committed to employment equity and welcomes applications from all qualified women and men, including visible minorities, aboriginal people and persons with disabilities.

Why Not Hedonism?

The tenth talk of the Winter PGSA Colloquium Series will take place this Wednesday, March 24th. The talk will be in Stevenson Hall, Room 1145, at 5:30pm.

Michel Herbert

Why Not Hedonism?

Abstract: Though hedonism is prominent in the history of moral philosophy, the view has fallen on hard times.  These days, it is quite common to find research on well-being giving hedonism only passing notice before moving on to the desire and objective list theories that have become dominant in the literature.  My dissertation examines the prospects for a hedonistic theory of well-being that assesses the quality of a life in terms of enjoyment and suffering.  The talk situates important objections to hedonism in the context of recent work by William Sumner and Fred Feldman and identifies areas for theoretical development.

Note to faculty members: We hope you will join us, particularly when the student's research lies in your area of specialty. The PGSA series aims to develop the presenter's oratory confidence, a part of which consists in the defense of his or her research before both specialists and non-specialists.

Looking forward to seeing everyone Wednesday!

Lori, Lucien and Emerson

Polygamy in Canada: The Legal and Philosophical Questions

“Polygamy in Canada: The Legal and Philosophical Questions”

A public forum with:

Professor John Finnis, Oxford University
Professor Grant Huscroft, Western Law
Professor Michael Milde, Dept. of Philosophy, UWO
Professor Bradley Miller, Western Law

Moderator: Professor Margaret Martin, Western Law

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 
Moot Court Room, Faculty of Law 
The University of Western Ontario

Presented by: The Public Law & Legal Philosophy Research Group at Western

All are welcome to attend.

Pragmatic Epistemology and the Importance of Descriptive Representation

The ninth talk of the Winter PGSA Colloquium Series will take place this Wednesday, March 17th. The talk will be in Stevenson Hall, Room 1145, at 5:30pm.

Mallorie Malone

Pragmatic Epistemology and the Importance of Descriptive Representation

 

Abstract:  In “Science as Solidarity”, Richard Rorty argues that the traditional conception of truth as being that which is “in accordance with fact or reality” is problematic due to our human limitations and personal biases (Rorty 39). This epistemological concern is of great importance to the functioning of a democratic assembly that governs a population that is diverse and multicultural. If such an assembly is composed of a homogenous group with similarly situated knowledge, it is inevitable that the legal and political outcomes of their governance will reflect what they see as ‘truths’ regarding the lives and experiences of the entire population. However, if the population is composed of minority groups who differ from those governing, those outcomes will likely not benefit their lives in the same way. This is due to the fact that their ‘truths’ do not correspond to those of their representatives.

How can this problem be ameliorated? I will argue that if we are concerned about fair and adequate representation of women and minority groups, we cannot be so quick to dismiss the potential benefits and rewards of adopting a descriptive view of representation. Instead, I contend that a conception of representation must also acknowledge the personal experiences of citizens and the advantage or disadvantage they may encounter as a result of their personal identities within a prejudicial system.  I argue that an absence of such representation is unfair, undemocratic, and unproductive

Mallorie's website is here.

Note to faculty members: We hope you will join us, particularly when the student's research lies in your area of specialty. The PGSA series aims to develop the presenter's oratory confidence, a part of which consists in the defence of his or her research before both specialists and non-specialists.

Looking forward to seeing everyone Wednesday!

Lori, Lucien and Emerson

Ethics in conduct of trials in developing countries

Published 15 March 2010, doi:10.1136/bmj.c1373
Cite this as: BMJ 2010;340:c1373

Research

Commentary: Ethics in conduct of trials in developing countries

by

Charles Weijer, professor

¹ Joseph L Rotman Institute of Science and Values, Departments of Philosophy and Medicine, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada N6A 3T2

Read the full version here, http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/bmj.c1373

Feminism, Science and Values

Conference Announcement

International Association for Women Philosophers

XIV IAPh Symposium 2010

Feminism, Science and Values

June 25-28, 2010

The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

co-hosted by the Department of Philosophy
and the Rotman Institute of  Science and Values

Featuring keynote addresses by  Barbara Duden (Leibniz Universität Hannover),
Lisa Gannett (St. Mary's University),  Sarah Richardson ( University of Massachusetts, Amherst),
Vandana Shiva (Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology) )
and  Nancy Tuana (Penn State University)

This will be the International Association of Women Philosophers' (http://www.iaph-philo.org) first meeting in Canada and only its second meeting in North America. 

Session themes will include:

• Race, Genomics and Social Values
• Researching Sex Differences: Feminist Critiques and Their Antecedents
• Facts in Feminist Philosophy
• "Female Complaints": Medicine, Markets and Women's Health
  
• Beauvoir and Arendt on Science
• Feminism and Empiricism (Quinean Themes)
  
• Technology and Intervention in Pregnancy and Childbirth
• Sex and Gender: Military Contexts
• Reconsidering Values in Feminist Philosophy of Science
  
• Reductionism, Determinism and Feminist Values
  
• Disability and Dependence
  
• Gender and Sport
  
• Science and Values: Global Perspectives

Registration and full program information can be found at: http://www.uwo.ca/philosophy/events/iaph2010/index.html
 

PhilMiLCog 2010

Call For Papers
PhilMiLCog 2010

University of Western Ontario’s Graduate Conference in Philosophy of
Mind, Language, and Cognitive Science

http://publish.uwo.ca/~lmorewbu/philmilcog/

May 22-23, 2010

Keynote Speakers:

Dr. Richard Samuels (Ohio State University)
Dr. Fred Adams (University of Delaware)

The Philosophy Department of the University of Western Ontario is
pleased to announce the 8th annual PhilMilCog graduate conference on
the philosophy of mind, language and cognitive science.  Submissions
by graduate students in the fields of philosophy of mind, philosophy
of language, linguistics, or cognitive science are welcome.  All
submissions must make a philosophical contribution.

Submission should be presentable in 25 minutes (3500 words) and should
be accompanied by a short abstract (150 words).

Important: Do not include identifying information in the abstract or
in the body of the paper.  Please attach a cover sheet with the
submitter’s name, paper title, mailing address, E-mail address,
telephone number, and institutional affiliation.

Deadline for submission: April 10th 2010

Please E-mail your paper, abstract, and cover page as Word,
WordPerfect, RTF, or PDF files to [email protected]

--

Philosophy in the Western News

Can philosophy help local non-profits?

By Heather Travis
Thursday, March 11, 2010

Thinking about ethical theories in an abstract way is one thing; putting those theories to work in real-life situations is another game altogether.

 

 

Philosophy professor Ryan Robb asks students to use ethical theories to help six local non-profit organizations improve their policies, practices and goals.  

 

 

 

University of Western Ontario Philosophy professor Ryan Robb challenges students to help local non-profit groups address important ethical issues.

 

Robb teaches a new course entitled “Ethics in Action,” which studies philosophies on moral obligation and moral issues. To better understand these theories in action, students participate in a community-based learning project.  

Their task: help a local non-profit organization address a specific practice, policy or goal that presents ethical problems.  

 

“Ethics is something presumably we all have to deal with everyday. Those of us who do research about that and come up with these abstract theories ... sometimes you get lost in the ’oh yeah, this is supposed to help people someday’.”

 

This is not your typical service-learning experience. The Student Success Centre: Careers, Leadership and Experience helped recruit the six community groups.  

 

The partners include: the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority; the Boys’ and Girls’ Club of London; the Alzheimer Society (London and Middlesex); Dale Brain Injury Services; Unity Project for the Relief of Homelessness; and AIDS Committee of London.  

 

This course is not about considering ethical theories in isolation, such as considering what great minds like Immanuel Kant or John Stuart Mill might say about what makes an action right or wrong.  

 

Instead, the course focuses on real world applications of these theories and “people stand to be affected by the work we do,” says Robb.

 

For example, the AIDS Committee of London has asked the class to develop better arguments to present to the public for why there should be a needle exchange program in the area.  

 

Students will run non-profits’ problems through four philosophical theories and provide a well-reasoned assessment and suggestions for improvement.

 

• deontology - what makes an action right or wrong are the motives (the right action is determined by the ‘right’ motives); 
• utilitarianism - the right action is the one that maximizes good consequences  (produces the greater good) and/or minimizes bad consequences; 
• an ethic of care - an action is right if it is respectful and sensitive to the emotions and interpersonal relations of people affected by it; and 
• virtue ethics - ethically correct actions are those representing signs of, or contributing to, a virtuous character.

Questioning the practices of non-profit organizations whose main concern is to help their clients – an inherently ‘good’ aspiration – may seem redundant, but Robb believes his students can help groups better fulfill their mandate by putting their practices through these morality tests.  

 

“The four theories they will be working with, they don’t provide answers. But they do provide you with the right kinds of questions.”  

 

Students will produce executive summaries and present their findings to the groups.  

 

Students will learn being an authority on ethical theory does not mean knowing the right thing to do in all circumstances, says Robb. Part of the learning will be when students are confronted with theories that don’t solve the ethical problems.  

 

Overall, the goal is to help students improve critical thinking skills by identifying and making good arguments.

 

“These ethical theories are designed and intended to help us improve the ways in which we relate to each other, and I think that’s all we can hope for.”   

http://communications.uwo.ca/com/western_news/stories/can_philosophy_help_local_non-profits?_20100311445918/

A Step Forward with Backward Error

Nicolas Fillion & Robert Moir

 

Abstract:  We argue that two powerful error-theoretic concepts (backward error analysis and conditioning) provide a general framework that can satisfactorily account for explanation of physical patterns and idealization. This method gives an objective criterion to determine which models in a class of neighbouring problems are just as good as the exact one. Hence, it increases our epistemological understanding of scientific theorizing by making clear that a key aspect to mathematical modeling is to exactly solve nearby problems.

Note to faculty members: We hope you will join us, particularly when the student's research lies in your area of specialty. The PGSA series aims to develop the presenter's oratory confidence, a part of which consists in the defence of his or her research before both specialists and non-specialists.

Looking forward to seeing everyone Wednesday!

Lori, Lucien and Emerson

Talk by McLeod and Petropanagos

"Ethics of Oncofertility," at the meeting Oncofertility in Canada: Building Connections for the Improvement of Fertility Preservation Options, hosted by Assisted Human Reproduction Canada (AHRC), Toronto, March 13-14, 2010.