Fully funded PhD position in Philosophy – VU University Amsterdam

http://www.vu.nl/nl/werken-bij-de-vu/vacatures/2013/118.asp
For 1.0 fte
Vacancy number 13184
VU unit: Faculty of Philosophy

The PhD student will work in the research project “Science Beyond Scientism” which investigates how scientism influences our thinking about rationality, free will, morality and religious belief and explores the way in which science can be taken seriously without succumbing to scientism. A description of the project, as well as of the PhD project can be found at www.abrahamkuypercenter.vu.nl/phdposition.   

Tasks 
The PhD student is expected to:
• write a PhD thesis;
• write at least 2 articles for international peer reviewed scientific journals;
• collaborate in a research group;
• participate in international conferences.  

Requirements 
• M.A. Philosophy or Theology and preferably also a Bachelor or Masters degree in one other field, such as biology or psychology;
• good English language skills. 

Further particulars  
The initial appointment will be for a period of one year. After satisfactory evaluation of the initial appointment, it can be extended for a total duration of four years. The starting date is March 2013, or as early as possible. Interviews are scheduled for Tuesday July 16, 2013. You can find information about our excellent fringe benefits of employment at www.workingatvu.nl like:
• remuneration of  8,3% end-of-year bonus and  8% holiday allowance;
• a minimum of 29 holidays In case of full-time employment;
• generous contribution (70%) commuting allowance based on public transport;
• discounts on collective insurances (healthcare- and car insurance). 

Salary 
The salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel, and amounts € 2.062,- gross per month in the first year up to € 2.664,- in the fourth year (salary scale 85) based on a full-time employment. 

Information 
For additional information please contact:

Prof. Dr. R. van Woudenberg
phone +31 20 5986678
e-mail: R.van.Woudenberg@vu.nl   

Application 
Applicants are requested to write a letter in which they describe their abilities and motivation, accompanied by a curriculum vitae with two references, a writing sample (ranging from 3-7.000 words) and a 2.000 word statement about the content of the PhD project. Written applications should be sent before July 4, 2013 to:

VU University Amsterdam
Faculty of Philosophy           
Attn.: Mr. A.W. Mulder, managing director
De Boelelaan 1105
1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

It is also possible to apply by e-mail to: secretaresse.thw@vu.nl   

Please mention the vacancy number and the number of the subproject (PhD project 1, 2, 3 or 4) in the e-mail header or at the top of your letter and on the envelope.            

The Philosophy and Theology of Intellectual Humility Project at Saint Louis University

Call for Proposals and Applications: The Philosophy and Theology of Intellectual Humility Project at Saint Louis University

Saint Louis University announces a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation to explore the subject of intellectual humility. The project will focus on a variety of philosophical and theological issues relevant to the topic of intellectual humility, including: virtue epistemology; regulative epistemology; peer disagreement; intellectual humility, intellectual autonomy and deference to authority; religious pluralism; divine hiddenness; intellectual humility and theological method; biases, heuristics, dual-process theories and evolution; intersubjectivity and mind reading.

This project will fund a variety of activities, including a competition for up to 16 research grants in philosophy and theology, for research between June 2014 to May 2015.

Additional funding opportunities include:

• Two one-semester visiting faculty research fellowships at SLU, for one term in the 2014-15 academic year.
• Four one-year postdoctoral fellowships at SLU for the 2014-15 academic year.
• Four one-year dissertation research fellowships at SLU for the 2014-15 academic year.
• Five external cluster groups: interdisciplinary discussion/reading groups for regular conversation on the topic of intellectual humility during the 2014-15 academic year.
• Summer Seminar on Intellectual Humility, for 10 to 12 advanced graduate students and junior faculty (no more than 10 years past the Ph.D.) in philosophy and theology, to be held in Los Angeles, CA in the summer of 2015.

For more information on these funding opportunities, together with instructions for submitting proposals and applications, please visit The Philosophy and Theology of Intellectual Humility at Saint Louis University.

The Philosophy and Theology of Intellectual Humility project complements the activities and research occurring under Templeton’s Science of Intellectual Humility project at the Fuller Graduate School of Psychology.

The project is directed by John Greco and Eleonore Stump, both at the Philosophy Department at Saint Louis University.

Questions should be directed to: humility@slu.edu

Issue 3/2 of IJSS

The latest issue of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism is now available here.

Annual Edinburgh Graduate Epistemology Conference

3^rd Annual Graduate Epistemology Conference

Eidyn, University of Edinburgh

Friday 31^st May - Saturday 1^st June

Registration for the University of Edinburgh’s 3^rd Annual Graduate Epistemology Conference is now open. The conference will comprise presentations on a range of epistemological issues from eight graduate speakers as well as two keynote addresses:

Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern University)

Linda Zagzebski (University of Oklahoma)

There is a £5 registration fee, which includes lunch and refreshments on both days. There will also be a conference dinner on Friday 31^st for an additional £20. Please register online (and select the appropriate option if you would like to join us for dinner).

For further details on the conference, including the programme of talks, please visit our conference webpage. For further information, including accessibility requirements, please email Lani Watson at

L.H.M.Watson@sms.ed.ac.uk.

This conference is generously sponsored by the Scots Philosophical Association, the Mind Association, the Analysis Trust and the Eidyn Research Centre and supported by the Edinburgh Women in Philosophy Group.

Summer Seminar in Science and the Big Questions

Summer Seminar in Science and the Big Questions
August 19-23, VU University Amsterdam
 
The Abraham Kuyper Center for Science and Religion at VU University Amsterdam hosts a summer seminar on science and the big questions. Experts will give lectures and engage in debates in the following areas:
 
* cognitive science of religion
* free will and brain research
* evolution, morality and Christian belief
* cosmology, fine-tuning, and God.
 
Confirmed speakers include: Patricia Churchland (UCSD), David Lahti (Queens' College, CUNY), Rodney Holder (Cambridge), Jesse Bering (New York), Johan Braeckman (Ghent U), Herman Philipse (Utrecht U), Gijsbert van den Brink (VU University Amsterdam), Michiel van Elk (U of Amsterdam), Leon de Bruin (Radboud U/VU University Amsterdam) and Tim O’Connor (Indiana U).
 
The seminar is intended for two groups:
(1) (PhD) students/post-docs working in the natural sciences who have an interest in positively and intelligently relating the topics they cover in their fields of study to philosophical questions and (2) (PhD) students/post-docs in the fields of philosophy and theology who have an interest in speaking knowledgeably about the intersection between science and religion. The goal of the seminar is to create a learning environment for (PhD) students/post-docs in which they interact with highly qualified scholars on science/religion issues so as to move beyond the easy warfare rhetoric.
 
Dates: August 19-23, 2013
Location: VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Costs:  The fee for the seminar is 100 euros for (PhD) students and 200 euros for others. This fee includes lunches and dinners and some surprise social activities in the beautiful old city of Amsterdam.
Application: The seminar has room for at most have 60 participants. Please send a brief statement of interest to abrahamkuypercenter@vu.nl by June 1, 2013.
 
More information and updates about speakers can be found on the seminar website:
www.abrahamkuypercenter.vu.nl/summerseminar

This seminar, as well as the Kuyper Center, are made possible by a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

CFP: 2013 Midsummer Philosophy Workshop (Eidyn, Edinburgh)

Nick Treanor (Edinburgh), Matthew Smith (Leeds) and Paula Silwa (Cambridge) are starting a regular series of 'Midsummer Philosophy Workshops', with the first one to be hosted by the Eidyn research centre in Edinburgh in 2013. More details, including a call for papers, can be found here. 

IJSS: New Issue

Issue 3/1 of IJSS

The latest issue of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism is now out. The papers can be accessed on Brill Online.

CFP: 3rd Edinburgh Graduate Epistemology Conference

3rd Annual Edinburgh Graduate Epistemology Conference
31st May-1st June 2013

Final Call for Papers
Essays within any area of epistemology (broadly construed) are welcome. Essays should be approximately 4000 words. The submission deadline for the conference is 1 March 2013.

Keynote Speakers
- Linda Zagzebski (University of Oklahoma)
- Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern University)

A distinguishing feature of this graduate conference is that all graduate presentations will have respondents from expert epistemology faculty members at Edinburgh and other neighbouring universities.

We strongly encourage submissions from under-represented groups in philosophy.

Please send the following to uofe.epistemology@gmail.com in .doc, .rtf, or .pdf format:

1) A cover letter containing
a) the author’s name and institutional affiliation
b) the author’s contact information
c) word count
d) the area(s) of epistemology the paper deals with

2) The paper itself, including the title and a short abstract (no more than 200 words), with no other identifying information.

For further information, including accessibility requirements, please email Alan Wilson. You can also visit our conference page.

Organising Committee
Lani Watson, Natalie Ashton, Alan Wilson, Lee Whittington, Alfred Archer, Tim Kunke.

With generous support from the Scots Philosophical Association, the Mind Association and the Eidyn Research Centre.

Fordham's "Varieties of Understanding" Project

The Philosophy Department at Fordham University is pleased to announce its three-year “Varieties of Understanding” project.

The project will sponsor research in psychology, philosophy, and theology that will examine the various ways in which human beings understand the world, how these various types of understanding might be improved, and how they might be combined with one another to produce an integrated understanding of the world.

For more details, and for information on how to apply for funding, please see the project website.

The project is supported by a 3.56 million dollar grant from the John Templeton Foundation, with additional support from the Henry Luce Foundation, Fordham University, and the University of California, Berkeley.

PhD Funding @ Eidyn

For details about PhD funding opportunities at Eidyn, click here (note the short deadline).

CFP: The Gettier Problem at 50

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Gettier Problem at 50 

20^th and 21^st June, 2013

University of Edinburgh

Eidyn: The Edinburgh Centre for Epistemology, Mind and Normativity

www.eidyn.org

Speakers: Mark Kaplan (Indiana University), Jennifer Nagel (University of Toronto), Erik Olsson (Lund Universitat), Duncan Pritchard (University of Edinburgh), Ernest Sosa (Rutgers University), Timothy Williamson (University of Oxford).

Sponsors: The Scots Philosophical Association and the Mind Association.

Topic: Since the publication of Edmund Gettier’s paper “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?,” in June of 1963, a central epistemological issue has been the problem – known as the “Gettier problem” – of supplementing or replacing the traditional tripartite theory of knowledge, by developing a theory of the nature of knowledge not subject to counterexamples of  the sort described in that paper.  In addition to a vast literature explicitly devoted to this task, the Gettier problem has impacted numerous other areas: the internalism/externalism debate about epistemic justification, the question of the value of knowledge, and work on epistemic intuitions and philosophical methodology (among other areas).  This conference, commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the publication of Gettier’s landmark paper, will bring together leading researchers to reflect on the Gettier problem and its legacy.

Questions to be examined include:

• Is the Gettier problem in some sense “unsolvable”?  What does this mean for epistemology?  For philosophical methodology more generally?
• What, if anything, can experimental philosophy tell us about the Gettier problem?
• In what way, if any, do different people’s intuitions about “Gettier cases” differ?  What explains the difference?
• What, if anything, do “Gettier cases” have in common?  What, if anything, is their common structure?
• Does the Gettier problem suggest that the concept of knowledge can’t be analyized?
• Does the problem suggest that knowledge isn’t more valuable than that which falls short of knowledge (e.g. justified, true belief)?
• Can other epistemic statuses (understanding, wisdom) be “Gettierized”?

Proceedings: Authors of papers presented at the conference will be invited to submit their papers for consideration for publication in a special issue of Philosophical Studies on “The Gettier Problem at 50: Methodological and Metaphilosophical Issues.”

Submissions: Submissions, in the form of an abstract (of no more than 1,000 words), of a paper to be presented in 45-60 minutes, should be sent to allanhazlett@gmail.com no later than 10^th January, 2013.

CFP: 3rd Annual Edinburgh Graduate Epistemology Conference

3rd Annual Graduate Epistemology Conference

Eidyn: The Edinburgh Centre for Epistemology, Mind and Normativity

www.eidyn.org

31st May-1st June 2013

We invite submissions of high quality papers from graduate students to the 3rd Annual Edinburgh Graduate Epistemology Conference, which will take place from the 31st May-1st June 2013.  Essays within any area of epistemology (broadly construed) are welcome.  Essays should be approximately 4000 words. The submission deadline for the conference is 1 March 2013.

Keynote Speakers
Linda Zagzebski (University of Oklahoma)
Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern University)

A distinguishing feature of this graduate conference is that all graduate presentations will have respondents from expert epistemology faculty members at Edinburgh and other neighbouring universities.

We strongly encourage submissions from under-represented groups in philosophy.

Please send the following to uofe.epistemology@gmail.com in .doc, .rtf, or .pdf format:

1) A cover letter containing
a) the author’s name and institutional affiliation
b) the author’s contact information
c) word count
d) the area(s) of epistemology the paper deals with

2) The paper itself, including the title and a short abstract (no more than 200 words), with no other identifying information.

For further information, including accessibility requirements, please email Alan Wilson. You can also visit our conference page.

Organising Committee
Lani Watson, Natalie Ashton, Alan Wilson, Lee Whittington, Alfred Archer, Tim Kunke

Amsterdam PhD Positions

The Faculty of Philosophy at VU University Amsterdam (the Netherlands) is advertising four fully funded four year Ph.D. positions in epistemology / philosophy of science.

The positions are embedded in a research project entitled 'Science Beyond Scientism', which aims to clarify the relations between scientific knowledge and other sources of knowledge, esp. in relation to knowledge of free will, morality, rationality, and religion.

More details the positions and information about how to apply can be found here. More background on the project is available here. For further inquiries, please contact the project's principal investigator, René van Woudenberg (+31 20 59 86678). The deadline for applications is January 2nd, 2013.

The project has been made possible by a generous grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

New Issue of IJSS Out

The latest issue of International Journal for the Study of Skepticism is now out. It includes articles by John Turri, Jill Rusin and J. Adam Carter, a discussion piece from Tony Brueckner, and reviews by Carlos Levy and Jeremy Fantl.

CFP: Educating for Intellectual Virtues

EDUCATING FOR INTELLECTUAL VIRTUES
Friday-Saturday, June 21-22
Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles

Plenary speakers: Shari Tishman (Harvard), Marvin Berkowitz (Missouri, St. Louis), Harvey Siegel (Miami), and Linda Zagzebski (Oklahoma).

This conference will bring together education theorists, psychologists, and philosophers to discuss intellectual virtues and their role in educational theory and practice. Intellectual virtues are the character traits of a good thinker or learner. They include curiosity, wonder, attentiveness, intellectual perseverance, open-mindedness, creativity, intellectual courage, intellectual rigor, intellectual humility, and more. 

Papers will address the following or related questions:

- What is intellectual character? How is intellectual character related to moral, civic, performance, or other dimensions of character? 
- Which intellectual virtues are most important to thinking and learning and why?
- How does the goal of fostering intellectual virtues compare with similar educational goals like critical thinking, metacognition, education of the whole person, or lifelong learning? 
- What might it look like to educate for intellectual virtues? What policies might schools adopt? What sorts of strategies or techniques might teachers use? 
- How can growth in intellectual virtues be measured or assessed? 

Deadline for submissions (abstracts or full papers) is February 15, 2013. Please see attached CFP or for more information about the conference. 

The conference is part of the Intellectual Virtues and Education Project, housed at Loyola Marymount University and sponsored by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation. To learn more, please visit: http://intellectualvirtues.org. 

Please contact Professor Jason Baehr (jbaehr@lmu.edu) or his assistant Nathaniel Currie (ncurrie@lion.lmu.edu) with questions.

Eidyn on Facebook and Twitter!

Eidyn is now on facebook and twitter!

CFP: 3rd Annual Edinburgh Graduate Epistemology Conference

The University of Edinburgh 
3rd Annual Graduate Epistemology Conference
31st May-1st June 2013

We invite submissions of high quality papers from graduate students to the 3rd Annual Edinburgh Graduate Epistemology Conference, which will take place from the 31st May-1st June 2013.  Essays within any area of epistemology (broadly construed) are welcome.  Essays should be approximately 4000 words. The submission deadline for the conference is 1 March 2013.

Keynote Speakers
Linda Zagzebski (University of Oklahoma)
Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern University)

A distinguishing feature of this graduate conference is that all graduate presentations will have respondents from expert epistemology faculty members at Edinburgh and other neighbouring universities.

We strongly encourage submissions from under-represented groups in philosophy.

Please send the following to uofe.epistemology@gmail.com in .doc, .rtf, or .pdf format:

1) A cover letter containing
a) the author’s name and institutional affiliation
b) the author’s contact information
c) word count
d) the area(s) of epistemology the paper deals with

2) The paper itself, including the title and a short abstract (no more than 200 words), with no other identifying information.

For further information, including accessibility requirements, please email Alan Wilson. You can also visit our conference page.

Organising Committee
Lani Watson, Natalie Ashton, Alan Wilson, Lee Whittington, Alfred Archer, Tim Kunke

CFP: The Gettier Problem at 50

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Gettier Problem at 50 

20^th and 21^st June, 2013

University of Edinburgh

Eidyn: The Edinburgh Centre for Epistemology, Mind and Normativity

www.eidyn.org

Speakers: Mark Kaplan (Indiana University), Jennifer Nagel (University of Toronto), Erik Olsson (Lund Universitat), Duncan Pritchard (University of Edinburgh), Ernest Sosa (Rutgers University), Timothy Williamson (University of Oxford).

Sponsors: The Scots Philosophical Association and the Mind Association.

Topic: Since the publication of Edmund Gettier’s paper “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?,” in June of 1963, a central epistemological issue has been the problem – known as the “Gettier problem” – of supplementing or replacing the traditional tripartite theory of knowledge, by developing a theory of the nature of knowledge not subject to counterexamples of  the sort described in that paper.  In addition to a vast literature explicitly devoted to this task, the Gettier problem has impacted numerous other areas: the internalism/externalism debate about epistemic justification, the question of the value of knowledge, and work on epistemic intuitions and philosophical methodology (among other areas).  This conference, commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the publication of Gettier’s landmark paper, will bring together leading researchers to reflect on the Gettier problem and its legacy.

Questions to be examined include:

• Is the Gettier problem in some sense “unsolvable”?  What does this mean for epistemology?  For philosophical methodology more generally?
• What, if anything, can experimental philosophy tell us about the Gettier problem?
• In what way, if any, do different people’s intuitions about “Gettier cases” differ?  What explains the difference?
• What, if anything, do “Gettier cases” have in common?  What, if anything, is their common structure?
• Does the Gettier problem suggest that the concept of knowledge can’t be analyzed?
• Does the problem suggest that knowledge isn’t more valuable than that which falls short of knowledge (e.g. justified, true belief)?
• Can other epistemic statuses (understanding, wisdom) be “Gettierized”?

Proceedings: Authors of papers presented at the conference will be invited to submit their papers for consideration for publication in a special issue of Philosophical Studies on “The Gettier Problem at 50: Methodological and Metaphilosophical Issues.”

Submissions: Submissions, in the form of an abstract (of no more than 1,000 words), of a paper to be presented in 45-60 minutes, should be sent to allanhazlett@gmail.com no later than 10^th January, 2013.

Three New Eidyn Research Centre Postdocs

Eidyn: The Edinburgh Centre for Epistemology, Mind and Normativity is now hiring three new postdoctoral fellows.

Extended Knowledge

As part of an AHRC-funded major research project on the topic of ‘Extended Knowledge’, there are two three-year postdoctoral positions available, both starting January 1^st 2013. Further details about these positions, including how to apply, can be found here. For more details about the ‘Extended Knowledge’ research project, click here. Informal inquiries about these posts, and this research project, should be directed to me.

Kant and the Laws of Nature

As part of a three-year Leverhulme-funded international network project on the topic of ‘Kant and the Laws of Nature’, there is a three-year postdoctoral position as a network facilitator available at the Eidyn Research Centre, starting November 1^st 2012. Further details about this position, including how to apply, can be found here. For more details about the ‘Kant and the Laws of Nature’ project, click here. Informal inquiries about this post, and this research project, should be directed to Dr. Michela Massimi.