PEA Soup

CFP: The Future of Work, Automation, and a Basic Income

Call for Abstracts

The Bowling Green Workshop in Applied Ethics and Public Policy

The Future of Work, Automation, and a Basic Income

April 7-8, 2017

Invited Speakers include: Matt Zwolinski (USD) and Evelyn Forget (Manitoba)

Those interested in presenting a paper are invited to submit a 2-3 page abstract (double-spaced) by Dec. 1, 2016. Papers need not address each element of the workshop theme.  We are casting a wide net, and encourage thinking broadly about the theme.

Only one submission per person is permitted. Abstracts will be evaluated by a program committee and decisions will be made by the end of January, 2017.

Please submit abstract to Irene Harris ([email protected]).

Information about previous workshops is available at the workshop website: http://www.bgsu.edu/arts-and-sciences/philosophy/workshops-and-conferences/policing-and-prisons.html. Information about the 2017 workshop will be posted soon.

CFP: Policing and Prisons (November 1st Deadline)

Policing and Prisons: Ethical and Political Questions about Law Enforcement and Incarceration 

The Bowling Green Workshop in Applied Ethics and Public Policy will take place in Bowling Green, Ohio, March 11^th-12^th, 2015. Our keynote speaker is Douglas Husak (Rutgers). Those interested in presenting a paper are invited to submit a 2-3 page abstract (double-spaced) by November 1^st, 2015. 

Religious Exemptions Conference at BGSU, April 17th-18th

Hi folks. I thought I'd post a reminder for anyone interested that Bowling Green State University is hosting a conference, "The Scope of Religious Exemptions," on April 17th and 18th. Our keynote speakers are Robert Audi (Notre Dame) and Andy Koppelman (Northwestern). Michael Perry (Emory) and Perry Dane (Rutgers) are presenting their work as well, along with Jocelyn Macclure, Lucas Swaine, Chad Flanders, Lori Watson, Christie Hartley, Simon May, Kyle Swan, Mark Navin, Naama Ofrath. Here's a link to our conference webpage. If you're available, you can register for the conference there. We'd love to have you!

Do cover letters for journal submissions make any difference?

I'm curious to know whether cover letters that accompany journal submissions make any difference — whether editors read them, whether the letters influence publication decisions, etc. I've always treated this as pro forma: "Dear Editors, Please consider this manuscript for a future issue ofthe journal," etc. But I've had scientists tell me that significant effort goes into crafting their cover letters because the significance of the work may not be obvious. Is that so in philosophy — that explaining the significance of a submission will help its publication chances?

What's My Method?

I'm applying for an intramural grant to work on a perfectly ordinary, non X-phi, piece of philosophy. (I want to think about the claim that someone like a florist might make that being required to provide services to a same-sex wedding violates her freedom of association in light of On Liberty.) I'm required to spell out my "Study Design/Methodology." More specifically: "Provide a detailed account of precisely what will be done to answer the question(s) or test the hypothesi(/e)s. Include plans for the protection of human or animal subjects and the environment." I think that I can provide convicing assurances that my project poses little risk to the environment. But how have other philosophers finessed these questions about methodology that are obviously formulated with empirical work in mind?

Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute (PIKSI) needs our help

If, like me, you've been frustrated with all that's going on in Philosophy (or not going on as the case may be) and want to do something positive to help our profession, here's an opportunity. Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute (PIKSI) is a weeklong summer school that brings undergraduates from underrepresented groups into graduate school for philosophy. It has been operating for nine years, in part with funding from the American Philosophical Association. That funding is no longer assured, and so PIKSI needs our help. Its organizers are running a crowd-funding campaign here. They are more than halfway to their modest goal. As noted over at Daily Nous, If everyone who reads this contributes just five dollars they would meet that goal in a day, easy. Go to the site, read about it (some interesting facts there), watch the video, and make a contribution. (Thanks to Serene Khader, the institute’s incoming director for bringing this to my attention.)

Bleg: Jounals that welcome commentary/discussion pieces?

Hi everyone, and a special wave to our new member Mark Timmons!

When graduate students ask me about publishing, I often suggest they start by submitting a tight discussion/commentary piece.  The trouble, however, is that I don't know which journals welcome them.  Ethics, of course.  And APQ and AJP, I think. But which others?  So, with your much appreciated help, maybe we can generate a couple useful lists.  And so:

1. Which journals welcome discussions/commentaries on works they've published?  

2. Which jounals also welcome discussions/commentaries on works published elsewhere?

Political Utopia: Promise or Peril? Ideal Theory Conference, April 25th-26th, 2014

For those of you interested in nonideal/ideal theory debates in political philosophy, I thought I’d let you know that Bowling Green State University is hosting a conference on the subject in three weeks. Registration is still open if you’re able to attend. We’re hoping to collect the papers in a volume following the conference. The line-up is great, and I expect the papers to advance the discussion.

Conference website here.

Conference flier here.

CFP: A Networking and Mentoring Workshop for Graduate Student Women in Philosophy

Call for Submissions

A Networking and Mentoring Workshop 
for Graduate Student Women in Philosophy

www.princeton.edu/~mentorship

Co-Directors: Elisabeth Camp, Elizabeth Harman, and Jill North

Female PhD and DPhil students and prospective students in philosophy are invited to submit papers on any topic in philosophy to participate in a workshop at Princeton University, August 21-24, 2014.

Thirty-five students will be selected to participate. Seven students will have their papers discussed; fourteen students will serve as commentators, and fourteen as chairs. In addition to the seven philosophy sessions, there will be five sessions at which professional advice is offered by twelve faculty mentors.

Say what?

Always the non-conformist, I let my "special month" slip by without a post. I'd had been planning to contribute something about what Strawson's account of the reactive attitudes can do for consequentialists (a lot, I think, despite his being read by Darwall et. al. as an anti-consequentialist), but wasn't quite sure how to say it on here and still am not. But I thought that a fun idea for a thread might be made out of unexpected quotes from philosophers, i.e., ones where they are or seem to be saying something quite contrary to their well-known views. A few of you will have seen this quote from Mill (1831) in my Facebook feed last night:

". . . liberalism, which is for making every man his own guide & sovereign master,& letting him think for himself & do exactly as he judges best for himself, giving other men leave to persuade him if they can by evidence, but forbidding him to give way to authority; and still less allowing them to constrain him more than the existence & tolerable security of every man's person and property renders indispensably necessary. It is difficult to conceive a more thorough ignorance of man's nature, & of what is necessary for his happiness or what degree of happiness & virtue he is capable of attaining than this system implies."