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2011 News and Announcements
Congratulations to the 2010-11 Cooper Fellows
MAY 10, 2011
I am pleased to announce the appointment of three outstanding
faculty members as new Cooper Fellow Recipients: Professors David
Janos, Roger Leblanc, and Amie Thomasson. The three-year
appointment recognizes and rewards some of our most valuable faculty
members who have shown excellence in contributing to our core
missions of scholarship, teaching, and service. The Cooper Fellow
recipients are expected to continue using the title beyond the
formal three-year appointment.
Professor Amie
Thomasson (Philosophy)
does original research on fundamental questions in metaphysics,
involving such areas as philosophy of the mind, philosophy of
language and philosophy of art. She is widely acknowledged to be
among the very best ‘analytic phenomenologists’ and as a leader in
efforts to bridge the analytic/continental divide that separates
these two metaphysics traditions. She is a popular, skilled and
conscientious teacher and has distinguished herself with exemplary
service to her department.
Cooper Fellows receive an annual stipend to support their faculty
research and teaching activities in the College.
For more information:
http://www.as.miami.edu/from-the-dean/Congratulations_to_the_2010-11_Cooper_Fellows
2010 News and Announcements
James Nickel, Professor of Philosophy and Law, has joined the
Advisory Board of a three year research project on Preventive
Justice based at Oxford University. The project, which is
funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, is headed by
Andrew Ashworth of All Souls College and Lucia Zedner of Corpus
Christi College. Nickel will also participate in the research
project. Its objective is "to develop an account of the
principles and values that should guide and limit the state’s use of
preventive techniques that involve coercion."
Congratulations to Benjamin Burgis for accepting a Visiting
Assistant Professor position at the University of Ulsan.
Congratulations to Kristin Borgwald for accepting a full time
position at Miami Dade College.
Congratulations are extended to
Benjamin Burgis for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation in
the Spring of 2010.
Congratulations to Brian Mondy for
accepting a Visiting Instructor position at Florida International
University.
University of kent awards honorary degree to colin mcginn
Professor Colin McGinn was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of
Letters from the University of Kent on July 15, 2010 at a ceremony
in the famed Canterbury Cathedral. McGinn has taught philosophy for
35 years in both the UK and the USA, at University College London,
the University of Oxford, Rutgers University and the University of
Miami, where he is currently Professor of Philosophy. He has written
20 books, tackling subjects as diverse as mind and brain, film,
Shakespeare and sport, including an autobiography. His latest book,
Disgust and Death: A Philosophical Study,
integrates philosophy, psychology, biology and cultural studies.
McGinn was also one of 3 University of Miami faculty members who
received the 2009-2010 Provost’s Award for Scholarly Activity.
Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc officially
presented the three with the award during a special ceremony in the
president’s boardroom.
NEL NODDINGS TO VISIT UM
The Department of Philosophy is delighted to announce that Ned
Noddings, the Lee
L.
Jacks Professor of Education,
Emerita,
at Stanford University, will be visiting campus for three weeks
beginning on February 21, 2011. During her visit Noddings will be
giving lectures and also collaborating with colleagues in the
Department of Philosophy and the School of Education. The lectures
will be in venues as small as individual classes and as large as a
University-wide lecture on the State of Public Education in the
United States, an event in which UM President Donna Shalala will
also participate. She will be collaborating most particularly with
Michael Slote, who will be giving an advanced course on “Education
and Human Values.” That course will focus on and also critique
Noddings’s educational philosophy (as well as John Dewey’s), and
Noddings will be attending the course and sharing her own opinions
and reactions with the class. Noddings and Slote will also be
working together with the School of Education on issues of community
outreach and on possible studies to be done on the educational
factors that may make students more caring as people and as
citizens.
“Nel Noddings is one of the most prominent figures in recent moral
philosophy, and she may well be the most important philosopher of
education of the present time. Her pioneering work on ‘the ethics of
care’ has helped to inaugurate a new and increasingly
influential tradition of philosophical and applied moral thinking.
And her views about the philosophy of education, which reflect her
own care ethics but also owe much to the influence of John Dewey,
move toward the articulation and implementation of an ideal of
caring education - of education for the sake of caring - that is
both more radical and invested with deeper moral purpose than
anything Dewey sought to do.” (Michael Slote, UST Professor of
Ethics and Professor of Philosophy, UM)
EUDAIMONIA AND VIRTUE: RETHINKING THE GOOD LIFE
The Department will host a conference on “Eudamonia and Virtue:
Rethinking the Good Life” on February 25 - 27, 2011. It is being
funded by Ms. Adrienne Arsht and the UM Ethics Program. Many ancient
philosophers argued that our thinking and behavior should be
grounded in a conception of eudaimonia, or human flourishing and
virtue, instead of, for example, a hedonistic conception of
happiness. A growing number of contemporary psychologists and
philosophers think that there is something deeply correct about this
general eudaimonist approach, even if we may not fully accept all of
the specific arguments and views propounded, for example, by
Aristotle and the Stoics. The conference is intended to bring
together philosophers and psychologists who are interested in
developing a contemporary eudaimonist approach and in discussing how
to best appropriate Ancient views. The conference will focus
primarily on theory – to address key issues in the definition of
eudaimonia, the importance of eudaimonia, and future directions of
eudaimonia scholarship – with a secondary but active interest in
empirical investigations of eudaimonia. We are pleased to announce
that the invited speakers will include some of the leading
eudaimonia scholars from both psychology and philosophy, including
Alan Waterman, Joar Vitterso, Corey Keyes, Michael Slote, Eric
Brown, Dan Haybron, and Talbot Brewer.
RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOKS
Otavio Bueno (ed.):
A Companion to Latin American Philosophy
-
Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
Edward Erwin:
Behavior Therapy: Scientific Philosophical and Moral Foundations
- Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Edward Erwin:
The Rejection of Natural Science Approaches to Psychotherapy
- VDM Verlag, 2010.
Kenneth Goodman (ed):
The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics, Politics & Death in the 21st
Century
- Oxford University Press, 2010.
Keith Lehrer:
Art: The Reconfiguration of Experience
-
Oxford University Press, (forthcoming).
Colin McGinn:
The Meaning of Disgust: Life, Death, and Revulsion
-
Oxford University Press, (forthcoming).
Mark Rowlands:
The New Science of the Mind: From Extended Mind to Embodied
Phenomenology
-
MIT Press, 2010.
Michael Slote:
Moral Sentimentalism
-
Oxford University Press, 2010.
Michael Slote:
Selected Essays
-
Oxford University Press, 2010.
Michael Slote:
Essays on The History of Ethics
-
Oxford University Press, 2010.
Michael Slote:
The Impossibility of Perfection
-
Oxford University Press, (forthcoming).
UM ETHICS PROGRAMS
Collaborations between the Department of Philosophy and UM Ethics
Programs have continued to expand, with a number of noteworthy
projects.
Arsht Research Grants on Ethics and Community
For the fourth year in a row, a Philosophy Department faculty member
has been awarded a research grant under the Arsht Ethics
Initiatives. Brad Cokelet is leading an effort to plan a conference
on “The Philosophy and Psychology of Eudaimonia and Virtue.” Cokelet
is collaborating with Blaine Fowers of the College of Education. Two
graduate students complete the team: Laura Cohen and Philipp Schwind.
The Arsht grants, now in their fourth year of funding, are made
possible by the generosity of UM trustee and philanthropist Adrienne
Arsht, whose gift of $3 million is the largest gift for ethics in
Florida. Arsht awards are based on a blinded, peer-review process.
Cokelet’s award means that the Philosophy Department has received
more Arsht awards than any other UM department.
Arsht grants are awarded to teams of faculty and student
collaborators from UM’s Gables, Medical and Marine campuses to
conduct research projects that address contemporary moral issues
with implications for public policy, professional practice, or human
rights. Grant funds are used for faculty release time, summer
support or course buyouts, student compensation, equipment,
software, books and other resources, limited travel and other
appropriate project-related costs.
Philosophy of Education Website
The Ethics Programs have provided support for a UM philosophy
graduate student, Mark Warren, to develop a website to document the
extensive work in the philosophy of education, including ethics
education, by department and other UM faculty.
Ethics Programs Faculty
The Ethics Programs have added a new faculty member, Robin N. Fiore.
While Fiore is a philosopher, her primary appointment is in the
Department of Medicine. She is scheduled to teach the department’s
“Bioethics” course in the fall.
“Adrienne Arsht’s passion for ethics and her investment in relevant
research is generating significant returns for UM faculty, students
and the wider community, ” said Prof. Anita Cava.
“The breadth, depth and diversity of these projects are daily
reminders of the creativity and commitment of our students and
faculty,” said Prof. Kenneth Goodman,
co-director of the Ethics Programs with Anita Cava from the School
of Business. Goodman has a joint appointment in the Department of
Philosophy.
Profs. Cava and Goodman founded the UM Ethics Programs 19 years ago,
and serve as co-directors.
AWARDS
Michelle Lipton
and
Ebony Rhodes
were the recipients of the Ramon M. Lemos Excellence in Philosophy
Award for Outstanding Graduating Senior in Philosophy.
James Cavaretta
received the Geritt and Edith Schipper Award for Outstanding
Undergraduate Student in Philosophy.
Benjamin Burgis
was the recipient of the Geritt and Edith Schipper Award for
Outstanding Graduate Student in Philosophy.
Aaron Wilson
received the University of Miami Center for the Humanities
Fellowship for the academic year 2010 - 2011.
GRADUATE PROGRAM NEWS
welcome to our new graduate students!
The Department of Philosophy is delighted to announce the arrival of
a fantastic new class of entering graduate students. Please join us
in welcoming them to the department, and wishing them all the best
for successful philosophical careers here and beyond!
Rami El Ali,
who is originally from Lebanon and in 2006 earned his M.A. in
Philosophy from the American University of Beirut, comes to us from
York University in Canada. He has many interests in philosophy,
particularly in philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and
metaphysics.
Sarah Lesson
received her B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Arizona in
2009. Among her many interests in philosophy, there is a special
place for philosophy of mind and epistemology.
Zachary Swanson
comes to us from the University of Houston, where in 2010 he earned
his M.A. in Philosophy. His main philosophical interests are in
philosophy of mind and cognitive science.
Heleana Theixos
received her M.A. in Philosophy from University College Dublin in
2009. Her main philosophical interests are in ethics, particularly
virtue ethics and applied ethics.
Rina Tzinman,
who is originally from Israel, comes to us from the Technical
University of Berlin, where she received her M.A. in Philosophy in
2010. She is particularly interested in the philosophy of mind.
RECENT PresentaTions/publications
Kristin Borgwald
presented a paper entitled “Women’s Anger, Epistemic Personhood and
Self-Respect: An Application of Lehrer’s work on Self Trust” at a
50 Years of the Philosophy of Keith Lehrer workshop at the
University of Graz in Austria.
Daniel Cohen
presented a paper entitled “Love, Friendship, Well-Being: A Reply to
the Argument from Moral Schizophrenia Against Modern Ethical
Theories” at the Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress at the University of
Colorado, Boulder.
Jennifer Etheridge
presented a paper entitled “An Argument Against Value Pluralism” at
the 2010 Virginia Tech Graduate Philosophy Conference, Topics in
Moral Philosophy.
Fredrik Haraldsen
presented a paper entitled “Definite Descriptions, Selection and
Rigidity” at the Language and Logic Conference in Aberdeen,
Scotland.
Mark Warren
presented a paper entitled “Navigating the Frege-Geach Problem” at
the 2010 Virginia Tech Graduate Philosophy Conference: Topics in
Moral Philosophy.
Aaron Wilson
published an article entitled “Peirce versus Davidson on
Metaphorical Meaning” -
Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society
(forthcoming).
Ben Yelle
presented a paper entitled “Reductionism and Personal Identity” at
the Intermountain West Student Philosophy Conference at the
University of Utah and a paper entitled “Imagination and Autonomy”
at the Felician Ethics Conference at Felician College.
Annual Graduate Student Conference in epistemology
This year’s seventh University of Miami Graduate Student Conference
in Epistemology maintained the high standards of the previous six.
The theme was modal epistemology, and papers were given by graduate
students from Princeton University, the University of Colorado at
Boulder, the University of Washington, the University of St Andrews
(UK), and the University of Köln (Germany). Responses were given by
our own graduate students. The graduate papers were complemented by
a key-note address from Prof. E.J. Lowe of Durham University (UK),
entitled “What is the source of our knowledge of modal truths?”, and
also by a talk on modal scepticism from Shane Oakley, who filled the
customary alumnus speaker role. The conference ended with a panel
discussion among Prof. Lowe, Prof. Amie Thomasson and Prof. Simon
Evnine on the problems and prospects of modal epistemology.
Throughout the conference, the discussion was stimulating,
thoughtful, and fruitful. The conference is organized entirely by
our graduate students, but not without help. We'd like to thank all
the participants and attendees, the Philosophy Department faculty,
and the Department’s office staff for their help in making the
conference a success, along with The College of Arts and Sciences
and The Friends of Philosophy.
The 8th annual Graduate Student Conference in Epistemology will take
place Jan 13 - 15, 2011. This year’s theme is scientific reasoning,
and the keynote speaker will be Luc Bovens from the London School of
Economics. Though the deadline is not until November, the organizers
have already received several submissions, and we expect that the
quality of papers accepted, and of the conference itself, will be as
high as in previous years.
Annual Graduate Student Workshop
in ethics & mind
In September 2009, the Department of Philosophy held the 2nd Annual
Graduate Workshop in Ethics & Mind, organized by Daniel Cohen, Mark
Warren and Aaron Wilson. The goal of this workshop is to help
develop projects that lie at the intersection of moral philosophy,
philosophy of mind, and the cognitive sciences. The Keynote Speaker
was Daniel Robinson from Oxford University, England. Graduate
students from highly ranked philosophy departments such as Duke,
University of Arizona, Cornell, and NYU presented their work to UM
philosophy faculty and graduate students during closed sessions. The
workshop was a success. A number of the graduate student
participants remarked on how useful were the criticisms and comments
made my UM philosophy faculty and graduate students during the
sessions.
The 3rd annual graduate student workshop in Ethics & Mind, organized
by Daniel Hampikian and Philipp Schwind, will take place November
20-21, 2010 and the keynote speaker will be John Doris from
Washington University in St. Louis. The workshop will consist of
four group sessions where accepted papers will be discussed, with
such topics as “Humeanism, Internalism, & Moral Fetishism”,
“Emotional Transparency & Justification”, “The Ethics of Panpsychism”
and “Antinomies in the Attitudes”.
2009 News and Announcements
We are pleased to acknowledge and thank Ms. Luz Angela Sarmiento, a
long time Friend of Philosophy, who has given the Department a very
generous gift in order to support the research efforts of our
graduate students. Her gift will fund Graduate Student Research
Accounts, which are awarded competitively to our very best graduate
students, enabling them to buy books, travel to professional
meetings to present their work, and fund other research-related
efforts. We are grateful to Ms. Sarmiento for her continuing
support of our program!
The Department of Philosophy will host a conference March 12 - 13,
2010, on Experimental Philosophy & The Ethics of Autonomy, which
will explore the ability of experimental methods and empirical
findings to contribute to the resolution of ‘traditional’
philosophical questions. Experimental philosophers are well known
for attacking virtue ethics and there has been extensive discussion
of their attacks on ethical and political theories that rely on the
concept of character. More recently, however, a new discussion has
begun to emerge; a new wave of experimental philosophers have raised
skeptical questions about theories that rely on the concept of
autonomy and theories that presuppose the value of increased freedom
or Socratic ethical reflection. These philosophers marshal
experimental studies to motivate skepticism about people's abilities
to form rational judgments about morality, happiness, and
well-being, and in order to raise skeptical doubts about how much
rational reflection, when it occurs, affects behavior. This
conference is designed to stimulate discussion of these empirical
arguments and to discuss whether such arguments can challenge
normative ethical and political theories that valorize autonomy and
Socratic reflection (e.g. Kantian ethical theories and Liberal
political theories).
The department is happy to announce a new addition to our faculty,
Professor James Nickel who
joins us this fall.
Welcome
to our new graduate students!
The Department of Philosophy is delighted to announce the arrival
of a terrific new class of entering graduate students. Please join
us in welcoming them to the department, and wishing them all the
best for successful philosophical careers here and beyond!
Daniel Corrigan
earned his M.A. in Philosophy from Georgia State University in
2006. He has many interests in philosophy, but metaphysics is a
particularly intriguing area for him.
Jennifer Etheridge
received her M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Houston in
2009. Her main interest is in ethics, with particular emphasis on
applied ethics. She is the recipient of a highly competitive
University of Miami Fellowship.
Michelle Hunt
comes to us from Illinois State University, where in 2009 she
earned her B.A. in Philosophy. She has many philosophical
interests, particularly in metaphysics.
Nurbay Irmak
arrives from Turkey, where he earned in 2009 his M.A. in
Philosophy at Bogazici University. His main philosophical interest
lies in metaphysics, in particular the metaphysical status of
fictional characters.
Sabrina Jamil
received her M.A. in Philosophy from Florida State University in
2006. She is particularly interested in philosophy of science, and
intrigued by the metaphysics of colors.
Benjamin Yelle
earned in 2009 his M.A. in Philosophy from the University of
Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He is particularly interested in exploring
the interface between ethics and metaphysics.
Awards
Congratulations to Dr. Michael
Slote! Dr. Slote is the recipient of the 2008-2009 Provost's
Award for Scholarly Activity.
Stephen Sinclair
was the recipient of the Ramon M. Lemos Excellence in Philosophy
Award for Outstanding Graduating Senior in Philosophy and the
Phi Sigma Tau Award.
Geraldo Alvarez
received the Geritt and Edith Schipper Award for Outstanding
Undergraduate Student in Philosophy.
Brian Mondy
was the recipient of the Gerritt and Edith Schipper Award for
Outstanding Graduate Student in Philosophy and the University of
Miami Center for the Humanities Fellowship.
Michael Hurlburt
received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award for the
Department of Philosophy.
Ryan Lake
received the Outstanding Graduate Paper Award at the 2009
Florida Philosophical Association Conference for his paper
entitled “Compatibilist Objections to Prepunishment”.
Recent Presentations
Kristin Borgwald
was Chair of the session entitled “Troublemaking, Anger and
Resentment” at the 2009 Feminist Ethics and Social Theory
Conference in Tampa, Florida.
Ryan Lake
is presenting a paper entitled “Compatibilist Objections to
Prepunishment” at Florida Philosophical Association Conference in
Gainesville, Florida November, 2009.
Brian Mondy
presented a paper entitled “Funniness and Normativity” at the 2nd
Annual Lighthearted Philosophers Meeting in October 2008.
Aaron Wilson
presented a paper entitled “Modal Expressivism and The Frege-Geach
Problem” at the Southeast Graduate Philosophy Conference at
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida in March 2009, and
will be presenting the paper "Peirce and the Question of
Metaphorical Meaning" at the 12th International Meeting on
Pragmatism at 'Pontificia Universidade Catolica' in Sao Paulo,
Brazil in November 2009.
Nicholas Wiltsher
presented a paper entitled “Conceiving
Possibilities Expressively" in the Joint Session of the
Aristotelian Society and The Mind Association at University of
East Anglia, UK, 11-13 July 2009.
Annual Graduate Student Conference in Epistemology
Each year the Department of Philosophy is proud to host the
University of Miami Graduate Student Conference in Epistemology.
Since its inception in 2004, the conference, organized and run
entirely by our graduate students, has served as a dynamic and
highly successful forum for the exchange of ideas in contemporary
epistemology. The 2008 conference continued the tradition of
excellence and featured a keynote address entitled "What Is The
Problem of Induction?" by Dr. Gilbert Harman of Princeton
University. Along with Dr. Harman’s keynote address, the
conference featured the presentation and discussion of papers
selected competitively by graduates students from University of
Rochester, University of Iowa, University of Georgia,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Florida State University
and Ohio University.
The conference included a faculty panel on naturalism that
included the diverse viewpoints of Professors Otavio Bueno, Edward
Erwin and Harvey Siegel.
We extend our thanks to all of the Philosophy Faculty Members and
office staff, The College of Arts and Sciences and The Friends of
Philosophy for their support and assistance in helping to make the
conference a success.
The 7th annual Graduate Student Conference in Epistemology will
take place Jan 14-16, 2010. This year's theme is modal
epistemology, and the keynote speaker will be Prof. E.J. Lowe of
the University of Durham. Though the deadline is not until
November, the organizers have already received several
submissions, and we expect that the quality of papers accepted,
and of the conference itself, will be as high as in previous
years.
Annual Graduate Student Workshop in Ethics, Mind & Brain
In September 2008, we held an in-house test run of what will
become an annual graduate workshop on questions at the
Intersection of Ethics, Brain, and Mind. The works of three UM
philosophy graduate students, Daniel Hampikian, Dan Cohen and Mark
Warren were discussed in closed sessions which included faculty
members and graduate students. Dr. Michael Slote presented the
Keynote talk entitled: "The Spectrum of Ethics Theories". The
in-house test run was a great success. This year, we invited
four philosophy graduate students from Cornell University, New
York University, Duke University and Arizona University, whose
works were discussed in closed sessions. The keynote talk was
delivered by Professor Daniel Robinson from The University of
Oxford entitled "Consciousness: Who Needs It?" Dr. Robinson has
published works in Ethics, Applied Ethics, Philosophy of
Psychology, and Philosophy of Mind. Thanks to the UM Ethics
Program and the Department of Philosophy the workshop held on
Friday September 25th and Saturday, September 26th was a great
success.
Philosophy Department Wins Third Arsht Ethics Research Grant!
The Philosophy Department has continued its string
of successful applications under the UM Ethics Programs' Arsht
"Ethics and Community" research awards program. Dr. Brad Cokelet,
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, and graduate student Philipp
Schwind were awarded a grant for "Experimental Philosophy,
Situationist Empirical Psychology, and Libertarian Paternalism."
The project's abstract frames the issue thus:
"According to Situationism, a recent development in analytic
philosophy, ethical theory needs to be rebuilt from the ground up
because of experimental psychological studies which show that
apparently impertinent contextual and situational factors - such
as the temperature and the color of items in our environment -
significantly influence our ethical deliberations and decisions.
Presently, the debate about situationism is centering on the
concept of character in virtue-ethics. We believe, however, that
situationism has far-reaching implications that have not received
the attention they deserve. In particular, we suspect that
situationism poses a challenge to many current theories of human
agency and moral responsibility and that an adequate account of
human agency, which is compatible with situationism, would give
further support to 'libertarian paternalism,' a promising model
for political decision-making."
The Philosophy Department has received one Arsht award in each of
the program's first three years, more than any other UM
department. Arsht research projects must address a contemporary
moral issue with implications for public policy, professional
practice, human rights, etc. Arsht Grants are awarded to
faculty-student teams. All applications undergo competitive peer
review. This year there were 16 applications, of which nine were
funded.
The ethics research program is made possible by a gift to the
university-wide Ethics Programs from philanthropist and UM Trustee
Adrienne Arsht. It is one of three initiatives, the others being a
distinguished speaker series and an undergraduate ethics debate
program.
A call for proposals for the fourth annual series (for 2010-2011)
will be released in the spring. For more information, visit
www.miami.edu/ethics
or email
ethics@miami.edu.
UM Team
Places Second In National Bioethics Debate Competition
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (March 16) –
For the second time in two weeks, a team of University of Miami
undergraduates has made a strong showing in a national “ethics
bowl.”
UM debaters made it to the final
round of the Bioethics Bowl at the National Undergraduate
Bioethics Conference at Harvard University, losing only in the
final round to a team from the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
The two top teams faced off in Harvard’s Sever Hall on Saturday to
debate issues related to requiring patients take drugs to prevent
disease and to the commercialization of organs for
transplantation. The auditorium was filled with members of the
other teams and participants at the annual bioethics conference.
UM’s team, which had been in intense
preparation for weeks before the event, has five members:
§
Carlos Alvarez, junior,
Economics and Philosophy
§
Melanie DiPietro, sophomore,
Communications and Philosophy
§
Danieli Evans, senior,
Economics
§
Josh Fieldstone, junior,
Philosophy
§
Melissa Hebra, sophomore,
Business
In addition to UM and UNC Chapel
Hill, teams were sent by Carleton College, Case Western, Loyola
University, National Hispanic University, Southern Methodist
University, SUNY-Albany, Texas Wesleyan, Union College,
University of Denver and Williams College.
2008 News and Announcements
University of Miami’s
Department of Philosophy ranks among top 5 U.S. Ph.D. programs
Outranking universities such
as Harvard, Stanford and Princeton, the University of Miami’s
philosophy department has placed number five on a list of top
Ph.D. programs in the country whose faculty members are
frequently cited in scholarly journals. Jonathan Kvanvig, a
philosophy professor at Baylor University, posted the rankings
on his blog,
Certain Doubts.
These rankings are based on departmental faculty Hirsch
numbers. A faculty member’s Hirsch number is the number of
his/her publications, x, that have been cited at least x
times. (So, for example, a faculty member with 2 publications,
both of which have been cited 2 times, has a Hirsch number of
2. A faculty member with 20 publications, all of which have
been cited 10 times, has a Hirsch number of 10.) UM’s
Department of Philosophy P.h.D. Program is ranked #5 by
faculty mean, and tied for #5 by faculty median. Only NYU,
Rutgers and MIT were ranked more highly on both measures.
At no. 5, this is the highest the UM Philosophy program has
ever been ranked. Some of the department’s most frequently
cited faculty include Colin McGinn, Harvey Siegel, Susan Haack,
Keith Lehrer and Michael Slote.
“We have some highly visible, widely cited scholars in our
department, and this ranking reflects that,” said Siegel, who
is currently serving as chair of the department. “I think it
also indicates a promising future for the department.”
Due out later in the fall is the highly anticipated
Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR), also known as the Leiter
Report. Unlike the citation-based rankings posted on
Certain Doubts, the PGR, the most influential ranking of
PhD programs in philosophy, is a reputational survey. Many
potential graduate students use the PGR and other rankings to
guide their choice of doctoral programs. In 2004-2006, UM
ranked 44th in the PGR, and 32nd in 2006-2008.
“We hope to continue our upward movement in the next PGR
ranking,” said Siegel. “We are subject to the halo effect
there. Doing well in a citation-based ranking is I think a
more accurate reflection of our collective scholarly
contribution than our place in a reputation-based ranking like
PGR. But since PGR is so influential with potential graduate
students, we will do our best to continue to improve there,
too.”
UM Ethics Programs recognized by World Health
Organization
The University of Miami Ethics Programs have
been designated a Collaborating Center in Ethics and Global
Health Policy by the World Health Organization (WHO) in
Geneva. UM’s center is only the third of its kind in the world
to receive this designation and the first ever in the United
States. The designation is recognition of the Ethics Programs’
nearly two decades of work in ethics education, research, and
public policy in Latin America, the Caribbean, and other
regions, according to Kenneth Goodman, codirector of the UM
Ethics Programs and director of the University’s Bioethics
Program at the Miller School of Medicine. “This recognition
underscores and affirms UM’s commitment to ethically optimized
international research and public policy,” he said. “It is
also a mark of a great university’s dedication to
collaborative research in a global context.” The UM Ethics
Programs are directed by Anita Cava, an associate professor of
business law, and Goodman, an associate professor of medicine
at the Miller School with a secondary appointment in
philosophy. The collaborating center application process is
arduous and requires several layers of review. In the case of
the UM Ethics Programs, center status was first endorsed by
leadership of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the
regional branch of the World Health Organization. The UM
Ethics Programs have worked with PAHO for many years on
projects around the Americas. WHO Director-General Margaret
Chan, from the People’s Republic of China, gave final approval
of the designation.
Keith Lehrer
was a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral
Science for the academic year 2007—2008.
Peter Lewis
spent a year visiting the Centre for Time at the University of
Sydney, and the Philosophy Department of Durham University
working on issues in the foundations of quantum mechanics,
especially how to understand probability in the many-worlds
interpretation, which was funded in part by NSF Scholar’s Award.
Colin McGinn
recently presented the Cooper Fellows Inaugural Cooper Lecture.
He explored the role and status of the “common man” in post-war
British literature and philosophy in his talk titled “The Rise
of the Ordinary Bloke”. The College of Arts and Sciences’
Cooper Fellows Lecture Series features presentations by some of
the most outstanding faculty in the college. Cooper Fellows are
appointed by the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences after
nomination by their departments.
Michael Slote
co-directed an NEH summer seminar on Confucianism and Western
Virtue Ethics at Wesleyan University in the Summer of 2008.
Amie Thomasson,
while on sabbatical during the 2007-2008 academic year, spent
time as a visiting fellow at the Centre for Time at the
University of Sydney, at the Centre for Consciousness at the
Australian National University, and at the University of Durham,
England. In addition to talks at each of those places, she also
presented her new work on modality and existence at conferences
in Sydney, St. Andrews, Geneva, and Barcelona, and gave
colloquium talks at the Universities of Leeds and Sussex.
AWARDS
David Delgado
was the recipient of the Ramon M. Lemos Excellence in
Philosophy Award for Outstanding Graduating Senior in
Philosophy.
Navied Mahdavian
was the recipient of the Phi Sigma Tau Award and
Nima Sharifai
received the Geritt and Edith Schipper Award for Outstanding
Undergraduate Student in Philosophy.
Kristin Borgwald
was the recipient of the Gerritt and Edith Schipper Award for
Outstanding Graduate Student in Philosophy and
Brian Mondy
received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award for the
Department of Philosophy.
Daniel Hampikian
and faculty collaborator Professor Michael Slote are
recipients of the 2008 Arsht Award for Research on Ethics and
Community. Their project, “Developing A Confucian Model for
Moral Improvement Within a Care Ethical System,” is one of
eight awards made university wide under the Arsht Initiatives.
RECENT GRADUATE STUDENT PresentaTions
Nicholas Wiltsher
presented a paper entitled “Kornblith on Knowledge and Natural
Kinds” at the Joint Session of The Aristotelian Society and
The Mind Association at the University of Aberdeen, UK during
the summer. He also presented a paper this month entitled
“Kornblith on Knowledge and Intuition” at the Kazimierz
Naturalised Epistemology Workshop, in Kazimierz, Poland.
Michael Hurlburt
presented a paper entitled “Empathic Autonomism” at the
Philosophy of Literature Conference at the University of
Sussex, London June 2008. He also presented a paper entitled
“Divorcing the Ethical Value of a Narrative Work from its
Aesthetic Value” at the American Society for Aesthetics Rocky
Mountain Division Annual Conference.
Brian Mondy
presented a paper entitled “Sider and Distinguished Structure”
at the University of Minnesota Graduate Philosophy Conference
in February 2008.
The department of Philosophy is
happy to welcome Dr. Mark Rowlands to our department. He joined
us in the Spring of 2007.
The department is happy to
announce the following additions to our faculty: Dr. Otávio
Bueno (Fall 2006) and Dr. Colin McGinn (Spring 2006). Here's a
recent article from the
Chronicle of Higher Education on Dr. McGinn.
 The
department of philosophy mourns the loss of our beloved friend
and colleague, Dr. Ramon Lemos. Ramon was "one of a kind."
Contributions can be made in his memory by sending it to the
Department of Philosophy PO Box 248054, Coral Gables, Florida
33124. Please make your check out to the Department of
Philosophy and indicate "in memory of Ramon Lemos".
 Kenneth
W. Goodman, co-director of the UM Ethics Programs and director
of the Bioethics Program, gives the welcoming remarks at the
thirteenth annual UM Bioethics Conference at the Wyndham Miami
Beach Resort last Thursday. Goodman organized the event, which
focused on the Terry Schiavo case, ethics and pediatrics, and
end-of-life care.
Louis Appignani, an adventurous world traveler and entrepreneur,
donated $50,000 to launch The Louis J. Appignani Foundation
Lecture Series on Science, Reason, and Secular Ethics through
the Department of Philosophy. The annual lecture series will
bring scholars in the fields of ethics and reason to the
University for lectures, symposia, and discussions. The
department is greatly appreciative of the gift.
 One
of this year's honorees for the ninth annual Provost's Award for
Scholarly Activity includes Edward Erwin, professor of
philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, for his research in
the philosophy of science and language. The award recognizes
extraordinary research and scholarly pursuits. In addition to a
commemorative plaque, each faculty member received a $4,000 cash
award and $2,000 toward continued research support. For more
information on their research projects, read the
news release.
Jeremy Morris, a graduate student in our
department, presented a paper entitled “Pragmatic Reflexivity in
Self-defeating and Self-Justifying Expressions" at the 6th
International Conference of the Society for the Study of
Argumentation Conference at the University of Amsterdam which
will be published in the Proceedings of the Sixth International
Conference of the Society for the Study of Argumentation
Conference, 2006. He is also co-author of “A Paradox for
Possible World Semantics” with Michael Shaffer, which is
forthcoming in the journal Logic et Analyse.
Congratulations are extended to
Corina Vaida for successfully defending her Ph.D. dissertation in
the Spring of 2005.
Michael Shaffer, a departmental
alumni, and Shane Oakley, a current graduate student, have a
paper entitled "Some Epistemological Concerns About Dissociative
Identity Disorder and Diagnostic Practices in Psychology" coming
out in the February 2005 issue of Philosophical Psychology,
vol. 18, No.1 pgs. 1-29.
Congratulations to Shane
Oakley (a graduate student in our program) who had his paper
accepted for publication in *Phil. Studies*.
2004
Congratulation to Dr. Bernie
Cantens, this years winner of the 2004 APA Prize in Latin
American Thought. Title of the paper is “Francisco De
Vitoria’s, O.P. Just Intervention Theory and The Iraq War."
Since it is a new award established by the APA Board of Officers
and Committee on Hispanics, professor Cantens will be the first
ever recipient of this award. He will present the symposium
paper at the American Philosophical Association Eastern Division
Meeting in Boston MA on December 28, 2004.
Liz Giles
and Nenad Popovic (graduate students in our department),
have been accepted for the Stanford/Illinois Summer Institute in
Philosophy of Education. Sponsored by the Spencer Foundation,
which provides for all expenses and a stipend. The Summer
Institute brings together distinguished faculty and promising
graduate students for an intensive philosophical experience.
2003
Congratulations to Dr. Eivind Balsvik on the publication of
An Interpretation & Assesment of First-Person Authority in the
Writings of Philosopher Donald Davidson published by
The Edwin Mellen Press.
The Chinese edition of
Prof. Susan Haack's book, Philosophy of Logics, was
published in June 2003 by Commercial Press in Beijing, P.R.
China. Continuously in print in English since 1978, this book
has also been published in Spanish, Italian, Korean, and (fall
2002) in Portuguese; a Japanese translation is now under way.
In 2003, Professor Cantens
received the APA William James Prize for his paper "Overcoming
the Evidentialist's Challenge: Peirce's Conjectures of
Instinctive Reason and the Reality of God."
2001
Congratulations are
extended to Dr. Erwin, who's Freud Encyclopedia has been
published by Garland. For more information visit :
Garland Publishing
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