Philosophy of science, value theory and history of philosophy are among the topics being
covered at this year's Syracuse University Graduate Philosophy Conference April 3-4. The
event, which is free and open to the public, features presentations by five graduate students
from around the country and two established philosophers: Kenneth Baynes, professor of
philosophy at SU, and Nathan Hanna G'07, the Uihlein Fellow of Ethics at Lawrence
University in Wisconsin.
The conference runs Friday, April 3, from 3:30-9:30 p.m. in Room 500 of the Hall of
Languages and Saturday, April 4, from 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. in Kittredge Auditorium of H.B.
Crouse Hall. For more information, call the SU philosophy department at (315) 443-4501 or
visit http://philosophy.syr.edu.
Co-organizers Kelly Anne McCormick and Aaron Wolf, both doctoral philosophy students,
say the conference is one way the University maintains a high profile in a competitive field.
"Each year, we invite graduate students nationwide to speak on a wide range of topics,"
says McCormick, referring to this year's lineup of presentations, which covers topics as
diverse as the moral status of pornography and the nature of eternal truths. The conference,
founded in 1993, is one of the oldest of its kind in the country.
On April 3, Jonah P.B. Goldwater, a doctoral student at The City University of New York,
will present a lecture titled "Physicalism, Hempel's Dilemma and the Rejection of Intrinsic
Properties" from 3:30-4:15 p.m., and Eric Campbell, a doctoral student at the University of
California, San Diego, will discuss "Nietzsche's Free Spirits and the Beauty of Illusion" from
5-6:15 p.m. Hanna, who specializes in ethics and political philosophy, will conclude the
Friday program with "Resurrecting the Problem of Evil" from 7-8:45 p.m.
The following day features four presentations. Billy Cameron, a master's student at the
University of Western Ontario, will discuss "Pornographic Performers: Representations for
Arousal and Moral Distinctions of Pornography" from 10-11:15 a.m.; Kristopher Phillips, a
doctoral student at the University of Iowa, will present "Defending the 'Immutability
Interpretation' of Descartes on Eternal Truths" from 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m.; and Jada Twedt
Strabbing, a doctoral student at Princeton University, will cover "Understanding
Attributability" from 2:15-3:30 p.m. Baynes, whose specialty is critical theory and modern
German philosophy, will conclude the conference with the keynote address, "Self, Narrative,
and Self-Constitution: Revisiting Taylor's 'Self-Interpreting Animals," from 4:15-6 p.m.
Housed in The College of Arts and Sciences, SU's graduate program in philosophy provides
opportunities for concentration in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, philosophy of
mind, philosophy of language and history of philosophy, with emphasis on early modern
philosophy or on 19th- and 20th-century French and German philosophy. Interdisciplinary
concentrations are also available campus wide in law, psychology and linguistics. The M.A.
and Ph.D. degree programs reflect the department's commitment to pursuing current
philosophical issues in a context of respect for the history of philosophy. SU maintains a
strong relationship with the philosophy departments of Cornell University and the
University of Rochester, fostering creative collaborations in and out of the classroom, chiefly
through The Andrew W. Mellon Central New York Humanities Corridor.
More information about The College of Arts and Sciences and the philosophy department is
available at http://thecollege.syr.edu.
