May
3
Fri
Cognitive Science Speaker Series @ Hybrid: Zoom/ CUNY 7102
May 3 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

ALL TALKS AVAILABLE ON ZOOM
SOME ALSO IN PERSON (Graduate Center room 7102)
Talks organized and hosted by Ryan McElhaney
To get Zoom links: Email davidrosenthal1@gmail.com

2/2: Edward Elliott
Philosophy, University of Leeds; soon to be at Notre Dame
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***
2/9: Sami R. Yousif
Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***
2/16: Susan E. Carey
Psychology, Harvard University
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***
2/23: Amy Kind
Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College
3/1: Johannes Fahrenfort
Neuroscience, Conscious Brain Lab, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
and Universiteit van Amsterdam
3/8: Sam Coleman
Philosophy, University of Hertfordshire
3/15: Christopher Hill
Philosophy, Brown University
3/22: Nicholas Humphrey
Neuropsychology, London School of Economics and Darwin College Cambridge
3/29: No talk—Easter weekend
4/5: James R. O’Shea
Philosophy, University College Dublin
4/12: Daniel Stoljar
Philosophy, Australian National University
4/19 and 4/26: No talks—CUNY spring break
5/3: Willem A. deVries
Philosophy, University of New Hampshire
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***
5/10: Kathleen Akins and Martin Hahn
Philosophy, Simon Fraser University
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***

May
10
Fri
Cognitive Science Speaker Series @ Hybrid: Zoom/ CUNY 7102
May 10 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

ALL TALKS AVAILABLE ON ZOOM
SOME ALSO IN PERSON (Graduate Center room 7102)
Talks organized and hosted by Ryan McElhaney
To get Zoom links: Email davidrosenthal1@gmail.com

2/2: Edward Elliott
Philosophy, University of Leeds; soon to be at Notre Dame
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***
2/9: Sami R. Yousif
Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***
2/16: Susan E. Carey
Psychology, Harvard University
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***
2/23: Amy Kind
Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College
3/1: Johannes Fahrenfort
Neuroscience, Conscious Brain Lab, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
and Universiteit van Amsterdam
3/8: Sam Coleman
Philosophy, University of Hertfordshire
3/15: Christopher Hill
Philosophy, Brown University
3/22: Nicholas Humphrey
Neuropsychology, London School of Economics and Darwin College Cambridge
3/29: No talk—Easter weekend
4/5: James R. O’Shea
Philosophy, University College Dublin
4/12: Daniel Stoljar
Philosophy, Australian National University
4/19 and 4/26: No talks—CUNY spring break
5/3: Willem A. deVries
Philosophy, University of New Hampshire
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***
5/10: Kathleen Akins and Martin Hahn
Philosophy, Simon Fraser University
*** HYBRID: Graduate Center Room 7102 ***

May
29
Wed
Cryptocurrency: Commodity or Credit? Asya Passinsky (Central European University) @ ZOOM
May 29 @ 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm

Zoom link

To this day, many theorists regard the commodity theory and the credit theory as the two main rival accounts of the nature of money. Yet cryptocurrency has revolutionized the institution of money in ways that most commodity and credit theorists could hardly have anticipated. Assuming that cryptocurrency is a new form of money, the question arises whether the commodity and credit theories can adequately account for it. This talk argues that they cannot. It first offers an interpretation of the commodity and credit theories according to which these theories uphold differing claims about the origin of money, the ontology of money, and the function of money. It then argues that thus understood, neither theory can accommodate cryptocurrency. Finally, it proposes a novel hybrid hylomorphic account of money which draws on aspects of both the commodity and credit theories, and it argues that this hybrid account can accommodate cryptocurrency.

Interviewer: Graham Hubbs (University of Idaho)

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new and thought-provoking interview series: “In Conversation: Exploring the Philosophy of Money and Finance”. The series kicks off with a selection of esteemed contributors to the recently published book, The Philosophy of Money and Finance (OUP, 2024).

Each interview will be followed by a live debate, encouraging active audience participation. The sessions (interview plus debate) will be 30 minutes long.

chair: Emiliano Ippoliti (Sapienza University of Rome)

organization: Emiliano Ippoliti (Sapienza University of Rome); Joakim Sandberg (University of Gothenburg); Lisa Warenski (CUNY Graduate Center and University of Connecticut)

info: phinancenet@gmail.com; lwarenski@gc.cuny.edu ; emiliano.ippoliti@uniroma1.it

Jun
17
Mon
Money in the Social Contract. Aaron James (UC Irvine) @ ZOOM
Jun 17 @ 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm

Zoom link

Philosophers tend to assume that money has only an instrumental relation to state legitimacy. This discussion explains how money raises state legitimacy issues of its own. Assuming a credit/debt theory of money, the state can be seen as an active participant in a credit economy of its own making. Insofar as a state issues or recognizes a money as a means of ruling people’s lives, it is subject to promissory requirements of redemption. This has significant implications for its legitimate and equitable management of a modern economy, the centerpiece of a social compact.

Interviewer: Richard Endörfer (University of Gothenburg)

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new and thought-provoking interview series: “In Conversation: Exploring the Philosophy of Money and Finance”. The series kicks off with a selection of esteemed contributors to the recently published book, The Philosophy of Money and Finance (OUP, 2024).

Each interview will be followed by a live debate, encouraging active audience participation. The sessions (interview plus debate) will be 30 minutes long.

chair: Emiliano Ippoliti (Sapienza University of Rome)

organization: Emiliano Ippoliti (Sapienza University of Rome); Joakim Sandberg (University of Gothenburg); Lisa Warenski (CUNY Graduate Center and University of Connecticut)

info: phinancenet@gmail.com; lwarenski@gc.cuny.edu ; emiliano.ippoliti@uniroma1.it

Sep
23
Mon
Climate Change and Reflexive Law: The EU Sustainable Finance Action Plan. Boudewijn de Bruin (U Groningen) @ ZOOM
Sep 23 @ 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm

Zoom link

This talk examines the instruments suggested by the key policy document driving sustainable finance in the European Union, the Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth. It uses a reflexive law approach coupled with insights from epistemology. The chapter first discusses the Action Plan and the concept of reflexive law (which focuses on such epistemic instruments as disclosure, reporting, and labelling). It discusses a number of challenges the plan faces (about, e.g., investor ignorance, long-termism, scenario analysis, accounting standards). It then introduces an alternative to reflexive law (called “epistemic law”), and argues that disclosure, reporting, and labelling improve by taking into account insights from epistemology and social science concerning the form and content of information. The talk’s recommendation is, in a slogan, to provide different information, and to provide information differently.

Interviewer: Lisa Warenski (CUNY Graduate Center and University of Connecticut)

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new and thought-provoking interview series: “In Conversation: Exploring the Philosophy of Money and Finance”. The series kicks off with a selection of esteemed contributors to the recently published book, The Philosophy of Money and Finance (OUP, 2024).

Each interview will be followed by a live debate, encouraging active audience participation. The sessions (interview plus debate) will be 30 minutes long.

chair: Emiliano Ippoliti (Sapienza University of Rome)

organization: Emiliano Ippoliti (Sapienza University of Rome); Joakim Sandberg (University of Gothenburg); Lisa Warenski (CUNY Graduate Center and University of Connecticut)

info: phinancenet@gmail.com; lwarenski@gc.cuny.edu ; emiliano.ippoliti@uniroma1.it

Oct
8
Tue
Credit and Distributive Justice. Marco Meyer (U Hamburg) @ ZOOM
Oct 8 @ 12:00 pm – 12:30 pm

Zoom link

The author argues that the credit system may improve distributive justice, but only indirectly, via job creation and government spending. The reason for this is that cheap credit on commercial terms is only available to people in the upper half of the wealth distribution. By contrast, the forms of credit available more widely are too expensive to make taking out credit a realistic option to escape poverty for most. However, credit can improve distributive justice indirectly, if entrepreneurs and corporations borrow for purposes that create jobs, or states spend borrowed funds on programs that address poverty or inequality. For these reasons, the author suggests that improving access to credit is less important from the perspective of distributive justice than how the credit system interacts with the tax system and labor laws.

Interviewer: Lisa Warenski (CUNY Graduate Center and University of Connecticut)

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new and thought-provoking interview series: “In Conversation: Exploring the Philosophy of Money and Finance”. The series kicks off with a selection of esteemed contributors to the recently published book, The Philosophy of Money and Finance (OUP, 2024).

Each interview will be followed by a live debate, encouraging active audience participation. The sessions (interview plus debate) will be 30 minutes long.

chair: Emiliano Ippoliti (Sapienza University of Rome)

organization: Emiliano Ippoliti (Sapienza University of Rome); Joakim Sandberg (University of Gothenburg); Lisa Warenski (CUNY Graduate Center and University of Connecticut)

info: phinancenet@gmail.com; lwarenski@gc.cuny.edu ; emiliano.ippoliti@uniroma1.it