One dimension of cognitive success is getting it right, i.e gaining knowledge of facts. Another dimension of cognitive success is using the right concept, i.e. framing a topic in the right way. This view, if correct, tasks inquirers with critically examining the concepts they are using and perhaps replacing those concepts with new and better ones. This task is often known as “conceptual engineering”.
The idea that conceptual engineering is an important task for inquirers in and outside philosophy has recently gained traction. Some philosophers think conceptual engineering is an important task for inquirers to pursue. The conference is focused on foundational issues in connection with conceptual engineering. Topics to be addressed include the following:
- What are the semantic mechanisms that underlie conceptual engineering?
- What are concepts, and which role (if any) do they play in conceptual engineering?
- How can a theory of conceptual engineering be integrated with large-scale semantic theories?
- Which precise changes does a language undergo when its speakers engineer concepts?
- Is conceptual engineering something that speakers can ever purposefully bring about?
- What is the relation between changing concepts and changing reality?
The planned conference will focus especially on the semantic foundations of conceptual engineering and push towards a better understanding of the process.
The conference is organized collaboratively by members of NYU (Vera Flocke and David Chalmers) and members of the research project ConceptLab, located at the University of Oslo (Herman Cappelen and Andrew Peet).
The conference is funded by the New York Institute of Philosophy and ConceptLab.
To attend, please register by following this link no later than August 31, 2018.
There is a clear need for a worldview that includes science and contemplation, arguably the two greatest achievements of humanity in studying the nature of reality. In my talk I will focus on the possibilities for future integration of aspects of science and contemplation, and perhaps even some far-future form of unification.
For these developments to proceed, two things must happen. From the science side, the role of the subject needs to be analyzed in qualitatively more detail, as different from a complex object that performs complex cognitive tasks. From the contemplation side, experts from different traditions with deep contemplative experience need to get together to establish a common language in which to talk across the cultural and dogmatic barriers, in order to find a more universal appreciation of the core of contemplation, akin to what science accomplished in the last few centuries.
In order to even start talking about a new worldview, the foundation for any conversation should be respect. Those scientists who view contemplation as at best a form of therapy, and at worst a form of superstition, will not be able to constructively engage in a dialogue. Neither will those contemplatives who view the scientific enterprise as necessarily reductionist and incapable of leaving any room for contemplation.
Note: here I use the word ‘contemplative’ to indicate those who actively engage in a form or spiritual practice, through meditation or prayer or a mixture of both. I prefer the word ‘contemplative’ or ‘mystic’ rather than ‘spiritual’ since the word ‘spirit’ can easily lead to inappropriate connotations. Unfortunately, mysticism got a bad rap with current connotations like mystification as intentionally obscuring things.
Faculty House, Garden Room 1
A roundtable based on Sharing Common Ground (Bloomsbury, 2017)
ROBERT HARVEY
Professor of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, Stony Brook University; author of Witnessness: Beckett, Levi, Dante and the Foundations of Ethics; Les Écrits de Marguerite Duras; De l’exception à la règle; Sharing Common Ground
with
EDWARD S. CASEY (Philosophy, Stony Brook University)
JEANNE ETELAIN (French Literature, Thought, and Culture, NYU)
AY 2018 – 19 Workshop Schedule
September 25th – Avery Archer (GWU)
October 16th – Daniel Singer (Penn)
November 13th – Ariel Zylberman (SUNY Albany)
February 26th – Vita Emery (Fordham)
March 26th – Kathryn Tabb (Columbia)
April 23rd – Carol Hay (UMass Lowell)
The Epistemology and Ethics group is composed of faculty and graduate students at Fordham and other nearby universities. Papers are read in advance, so the majority of the time is devoted to questions and discussion.
Location: Plaza View Room, 12th Floor, Lowenstein Bldg., 113 West 60th Street. If interested in attending, email dheney[at]fordham[dot]edu.
DATES:
October 4 and 5, 2018
LOCATION:
Feil Hall, Forchelli Conference Center, 22nd Floor, 205 State Street Brooklyn, New York
Sponsored by The Hastings Center and Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Health, Science and Public Policy; co-sponsored by Columbia University’s Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics and Harvard Medical School’s Center for Bioethics
Access the conference flyer here.
SPEAKERS:
| Catherine Bliss (University of California, San Francisco) | Alondra Nelson (Columbia University) |
| Catherine Clune-Taylor (Princeton University) | Carolyn Neuhaus (The Hastings Center) |
| Eva Kittay (SUNY Stony Brook) | Jenny Reardon (UC Santa Cruz) |
| Melinda Hall (Stetson University) | Sandra Soo-Jin Lee (Stanford University) |
| Colin Koopman (University of Oregon) | Joe Stramondo (San Diego State University) |
| Leslie Larkin (Northern Michigan University) | Jessica Kolopenuk (University of Alberta) |
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, October 4, 8:15 am – 5:00 pm
REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST: 8:15-9:00
- 9:00-9:10 Erik Parens, Welcome on Behalf of The Hastings Center
- 9:10-9:20 Karen Porter Welcome on Behalf of Brooklyn Law School
- 9:20-9:30 Joel Michael Reynolds Welcome and Introductory Remarks
- 9:30-10:20 Colin Koopman “Coding the Self: The Biopolitics & Infopolitics of Genetic Sciences”
SHORT BREAK: 10:20-10:40
- 10:40-11:40 Lesley Larkin “On Contemporary Literature and the ‘Good Bionarrative Citizen”
LUNCH: 11:40-1:00
- 1:00-1:50 Sandra Soo-Jin Lee “How Is Social Networking and Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing Shaping The Choices and Conundrums of the Biocitizen?”
- 1:50-2:40 Melinda Hall “On The Language of Risk and the Marginalization of Bodies”
BREAK: 2:40-3:10
- 3:10-4:00 Catherine Clune-Taylor “What Does The History of Medicine Teach about the Advent of Genomics as “Truth” Concerning Categories of Embodiment such as Sex and Sexuality?”
- 4:00-5:00 Joseph Stramondo “How Does Genomics Shape Categories of Disability and How Might the Virtuous Biocitizen Respond?”
Friday, October 5, 2018, 8:15 am – 5:00 pm
REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST: 8:15-9:00
- 9:00-9:50 Jessica Kolopenuk “How Does Colonialism and Racism Inform Genomic Knowledge and How Might Such Legacies Be Undermined?”
- 9:50-10:40 Catherine Bliss “Given Genomics’ Potential for Reinscription of Erroneous Notions of Race, How Should One Think about Race Ethically in the Genomic Age?”
SHORT BREAK: 10:40-11:00
- 11:00-11:50 Eva Kittay “How Much of a Gift or Weight Is Genomics from the Perspective of Care?”
LUNCH 11:50-1:00
- 1:00-1:50 Carolyn Neuhaus “On the Rhetoric that Exaggerates the Weight and Elides the Gift”
- 1:50-2:40 Alondra Nelson “The Politics of Genomics in the USA: the OSTP and the PMI”
SHORT BREAK: 2:40-3:00
- 3:00-4:00 Jenny Reardon “How Should We Understand the Relationship between Genomics, Justice, and Democracy?”
- 4:00-5:00 Roundtable Discussion
This conference will have live on-screen captioning and will be livestreamed. Send inquiries about the conference and any accessibility-related requests to reynoldsj@thehastingscenter.org. Requests for a reasonable accommodation based on a disability to attend this event should also be made to Louise Cohen, the BLS Reasonable Accommodations Coordinator, at louise.cohen@brooklaw.edu or (718) 780-0377.
New York Workshop for the Cosmos of Dōgen Presents
Dōgen in Dialogue with Analytic Philosophy
Dōgen (1200-1251) is a Japanese Zen master and one of the most original and intriguing philosophers in the entire history of Japan. In this workshop, some important themes of Dogen’s philosophy such as self, time, reality, causation, ineffability of the ultimate truth & etc., are reinterpreted, mainly but not exclusively, from the perspectives of analytic philosophy. Those analytic Dōgen studies purport to shed new lights to his thoughts as well as the contemporary philosophical debates on those topics. The workshop also features contemporary philosophical talks on Self, that are inspired by Dōgen’s insights. So, overall it aims to revive Dōgen as a fruitful dialogical partner for contemporary philosophy.
I Analytic Dōgen Studies
Yasuo DEGUCHI (Kyoto University): Self as Anyone
This talk will explore Dōgen’s ideas on self as well as time, being and reality in terms of analytic philosophy such as trope, formulating it as Self as Anyone.
Naozumi MITANI (Shinshū University): On the Elusiveness of Dōgen’s Ontology
This talk tries to explicate Dōgen’s Ontology that can be found in those chapters of Sōbōgenzō as Gebjōkōan, Busshō and Inmo, as non-monistic process philosophy, consulting philosophical ideas of contemporary philosophers such as W. Sellers and T. Nagel.
Shinya MORIYAMA (Shinshū University): Dōgen on Time and Self: Reflections on Uji
This talk will summarize the main theses of Sōbōgenzō’s Uji chapter as (1) time doesn’t pass, (2) time presupposes self that is to be reduced to everything in the world, and (3) time succeeds with each other without any gap between them. Then it tries to explicate Dōgen’ ideas on time and self that are encapsulated as those enigmatic claims in the light to contemporary metaphysics and philosophy of time.
Naoya FUJIKAWA (Tokyo Metropolitan University): Eloquence of Silence? : A Note on Dōgen on Silence
This talks will try to analyze Dōgen’ ideas on silence as the best way to convey Dharma in terms of contemporary pragmatics such as Gricean framework, mentioning to interpretations by Priest and Casati (forthcoming), Priest’s Fifth Corner of Four, Garfied’s Engaging Buddhism.
Hsun Mei CHENG (Kyoto University/National Taiwan University): The Knowledge of Reality and Reality in Dōgen’s Philosophy
Dōgen’s idea on our knowledge of the ultimate reality will be explored in terms of contemporary philosophical vocabularies such as knowing-that vs. knowing-how (G. Ryle, J. Stanley and T. Williamson), tacit knowledge (M. Planyi) and non-conceptual knowledge (F. Hoffman). Then it will be claimed that Dōgen’s knowledge should be understood as a tacit and non-conceptual knowing-how.
Hayato SAIGŌ (Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology): Dōgen on Interdependence: Nārgārjuna and Category Theory
Recently Yorizumi (2011) proposed a Saussurian reading of Dōgen’s idea of interdependence, following Toshihiko Izutsu’s interpretation of Buddhistic philosophy, interpretation it as an arbitrary construct of our minds. This talk tries to propose an alternative interpretation on his idea of interdependence in the light of
category theory in contemporary mathematics, focusing on reflexive features of Dōgen’s interpretation.
II Philosophy of Self a là Dōgen
Yasuo DEGUCHI (Kyoto University): Self as We: Toward a Revival of East Asian Holistic Self
This talks tries to argue for a new idea on holistic and somatic self; self as we, being inspired the speaker’s interpretation on Dōgen’s ideas on self; self as anyone.
Shigeru TAGUCHI (Hokkaido University): Self in Superposition: Husserl, Tanabe, and Dōgen
The aim of this talk is to compare Husserl’s concept of Ur-Ich with Tanabe Hajime’s concept of “species” in order to reconsider the basic state of “self” and its primordial relation to other selves. I claim that self is not a substance, but a kind of “mediation.”
Schedule
5 th Oct. 2018 Room 6300
Analytic Dōgen Studies I
10:00 – 11:30 Deguchi
Lunch
13:00 – 14:30 Mitani
14:40 – 16:10 Moriyama
16:20 – 17:50 Fujikawa
Dinner
6th Oct. 2018 Room 7113.XX
Analytic Dōgen Studies II
10:00 – 11:00 Hsun-Mei Cheng
11:00 – 12:00 Hayato Saigo
Lunch
II Philosophy of Self a là Dōgen
13:30 – 15:00 Deguchi
15:10 – 16:40 Taguchi
17:00 – 17:00 Lap Up Discussion
Dinner
The CUNY Graduate Center Advanced Research Collaborative (ARC), the Center for the Humanities, and the Philosophy Program present an interdisciplinary conference on:
“#MeToo and Epistemic Injustice”
Over the past year, the #MeToo movement has forced into national consciousness what has long been an underground truth known by women: the horrifying pervasiveness of sexual harassment and assault as routine everyday occurrences, largely unpunished. How can one explain the resistance there has traditionally been, as recently brought out in one high-profile case after another, to taking women’s testimony seriously? Using Miranda Fricker’s innovative concept of “epistemic injustice” as a focus—the refusal to give members of subordinated groups a fair hearing—this 2-day interdisciplinary conference will examine the problem in its multiple dimensions. Eighteen theorists from a wide variety of subjects—philosophy, political theory, media studies, history, gender and women’s studies, LGBTQ theory, Africana and Native American studies, law, and disability theory—will look from their distinctive perspectives at women’s vulnerability to sexual harassment and assault, and the ways in which it is complicated by class, race, nationality, sexuality, and disability.
October 5-6, 2018
Venues:
- Oct 5th – Roosevelt House, 47-49 East 65th St.
9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. - Oct 6th – Skylight Room (9100), CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave.
10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Speakers:
- Linda Martín Alcoff, Philosophy, Hunter College & CUNY Grad Center
- Susan Brison, Philosophy, Dartmouth College
- Ann Cahill, Philosophy, Elon University
- Nirmala Erevelles, Disability Studies & Education, University of Alabama
- Karyn Freedman, Philosophy, University of Guelph
- Miranda Fricker, Philosophy, CUNY Grad Center
- Mishuana Goeman, Gender Studies & American Indian Studies, UCLA
- Suzanne Goldberg, Columbia Law School
- Raja Halwani, Liberal Arts, Art Institute of Chicago
- Alison Jaggar, Philosophy, University of Colorado Boulder
- Kate Manne, Philosophy, Cornell University
- Danielle McGuire, Independent Historian
- Sarah Clark Miller, Philosophy, Penn State University
- Rupal Oza, Women & Gender Studies, Hunter College & CUNY Grad Center
- Andrea Press, Media Studies & Sociology, University of Virginia
- Tricia Rose, Africana Studies, Brown University
- Dina Siddiqi, Women & Gender Studies, Hunter College
- Shatema Threadcraft, Government, Dartmouth College
Conference organizers: Linda Martín Alcoff and Charles W. Mills
The CUNY Graduate Center Advanced Research Collaborative (ARC), the Center for the Humanities, and the Philosophy Program present an interdisciplinary conference on:
“#MeToo and Epistemic Injustice”
Over the past year, the #MeToo movement has forced into national consciousness what has long been an underground truth known by women: the horrifying pervasiveness of sexual harassment and assault as routine everyday occurrences, largely unpunished. How can one explain the resistance there has traditionally been, as recently brought out in one high-profile case after another, to taking women’s testimony seriously? Using Miranda Fricker’s innovative concept of “epistemic injustice” as a focus—the refusal to give members of subordinated groups a fair hearing—this 2-day interdisciplinary conference will examine the problem in its multiple dimensions. Eighteen theorists from a wide variety of subjects—philosophy, political theory, media studies, history, gender and women’s studies, LGBTQ theory, Africana and Native American studies, law, and disability theory—will look from their distinctive perspectives at women’s vulnerability to sexual harassment and assault, and the ways in which it is complicated by class, race, nationality, sexuality, and disability.
October 5-6, 2018
Venues:
- Oct 5th – Roosevelt House, 47-49 East 65th St.
9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. - Oct 6th – Skylight Room (9100), CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave.
10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Speakers:
- Linda Martín Alcoff, Philosophy, Hunter College & CUNY Grad Center
- Susan Brison, Philosophy, Dartmouth College
- Ann Cahill, Philosophy, Elon University
- Nirmala Erevelles, Disability Studies & Education, University of Alabama
- Karyn Freedman, Philosophy, University of Guelph
- Miranda Fricker, Philosophy, CUNY Grad Center
- Mishuana Goeman, Gender Studies & American Indian Studies, UCLA
- Suzanne Goldberg, Columbia Law School
- Raja Halwani, Liberal Arts, Art Institute of Chicago
- Alison Jaggar, Philosophy, University of Colorado Boulder
- Kate Manne, Philosophy, Cornell University
- Danielle McGuire, Independent Historian
- Sarah Clark Miller, Philosophy, Penn State University
- Rupal Oza, Women & Gender Studies, Hunter College & CUNY Grad Center
- Andrea Press, Media Studies & Sociology, University of Virginia
- Tricia Rose, Africana Studies, Brown University
- Dina Siddiqi, Women & Gender Studies, Hunter College
- Shatema Threadcraft, Government, Dartmouth College
Conference organizers: Linda Martín Alcoff and Charles W. Mills
Working Papers in Ethics and Moral Psychology is a speaker series conducted under the auspices of the Icahn School of Medicine Bioethics Program. It is a working group where speakers are invited to present well-developed, as yet unpublished work. The focus of the group is interdisciplinary, with an emphasis on topics in ethics, bioethics, neuroethics, and moral psychology. The meetings begin with a brief presentation by the invited speaker and the remaining time is devoted to a discussion of the paper. The speakers will make their papers available in advance of their presentation to those who sign up for the Working Papers mailing list.
Upcoming Speakers:
11 Oct: Jordan Mackenzie, NYU
8 Nov: Susana Nuccetelli, St. Cloud State
13 Dec: Michael Brownstein, John Jay
14 Mar: Kyle Ferguson, CUNY
18 Apr: Jeff Sebo, NYU
23 May: Johann Frick, Princeton
The Minorities and Philosophy Chapters of The Graduate Center CUNY, NYU, Princeton, Columbia, Rutgers, and the New School present: Oppression and Resistance, a conference on understanding and resisting oppression inside and outside the academy.
Highlights include:
- an afternoon of practical workshops
- a panel on activism and philosophy with Linda Martín Alcoff, Lori Gruen, Kate Ritchie, and Briana Toole
- six fantastic talks on the topic of the conference
- a keynote address by José Medina, “Resisting Racist Propaganda”
- delicious all-vegan food and a house party!
The full schedule is below. We hope to see you there!
You can register (optionally) here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbVIij40xlFYKPpBRbIFB1NqiqB-xJNMStKn-wNhwZYgHuCA/viewform
FULL SCHEDULE:
Friday Oct 12
- Panel 1 – MAP Panel: 1.00-2.00pm (6th Floor)
Elise Woodard, Carolina Flores, Keyvan Shafiei - Panel 2 – Graduate Employee Unions and Social Justice: 2.10-3.10pm (6th Floor)
Danny Echikson, Nadia Mehdi, Chris Nickell
- Panel 3 – Teaching outside the Academy & Inclusive Pedagogy: 3.20-4.20pm (6th Floor)
Sukaina Hirji, Allysa Lake, Victoria Emery
- Panel 4 – Faculty Panel on Activism and Public Philosophy: 4.30-6.30pm (202)
Linda Martín Alcoff, Lori Gruen, Briana Toole, Kate Ritchie
- Reception: 6.30-7.30pm
Saturday Oct 13
- Session 1: 10.00-11.30am (101)
Rebecca Harrison, “Experiencing Resistance: Disruptive Protest as a Site of Moral Learning”
Claryn Spies, “Ideas Spring from Deeds: Rethinking Black Bloc Aesthetically” - Session 2: 11.45am-1.15pm (101)
Noel Dominguez, “Are We Blameworthy for Implicit Biases? We Might As Well Be”
Javiera Perez-Gomez, “Microaggressions: Failings and Prospects” - Session 3: 2.30-4.00pm (101)
Emmalon Davis, “What we Owe To Ourselves: Resisting a Self-Directed Duty to Resist Oppression”
Matt Andler, “What Is Sexual Identity?” - Keynote: 4.30-6.30pm
José Medina, “Resisting Racist Propaganda: Distorted Visual Communication and Epistemic Activism” (101) - Reception: 6.30-7.30pm