Epistemic Value

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Conference at Cal State Fullerton

VIRTUE & VICE: MORAL & INTELLECTUAL, Thurs June 26-Fri June 27, 2008
Website: http://hss.fullerton.edu/philosophy/fipc.htm

Conference Schedule:
June 26 AM: Jason Baehr “Epistemic Malevolence”; Heather Battaly “Epistemic Self-Indulgence”; Guy Axtell “Intersections: Character-trait Ascriptions in Ethics and Epistemology”

June 26 PM: Roger Crisp (keynote) “Virtue Ethics and Virtue Epistemology”; Wayne Riggs “Insight & Open-Mindedness”; Miranda Fricker “Institutional Virtue?”

June 27 AM: Amy Coplan “Why I Am Not An Intellectualist”; Michael Brady “Virtue and Attention”; Thomas Hurka “Right Act, Virtuous Motive”

June 27 PM: Linda Zagzebski (keynote) “Exemplarist Virtue Theory”; Nomy Arpaly “Open-Mindedness”; Christine Swanton “A Challenge to Intellectual Virtue from Moral Virtue: The Case of Universal Love”

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008

New Issue of Episteme

The new issue of the excellent Episteme is out. Click here for more details. Click here for details about how to subscribe.

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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Rochester Epistemology Conference

I'm happy to announce the 5th Biennial University of Rochester Graduate Epistemology Conference.

It will be held Friday-Saturday, October 10th-11th on the beautiful campus of the University of Rochester, hosted by the Philosophy Department.

The main speaker is Alvin Goldman and Richard Feldman will be commenting.

The call for paper is here.

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Epistemology at the Central APA

I'll be heading off to Chicago soon for the Central APA. There's a fair amount of epistemology taking place, much of which is usefully listed here by Jon on Certain Doubts. Here are a couple of other sessions of possible interest to readers of this blog:

Thursday

GII-9. Hume Society
5:15-7:15 p.m.
Topic: Hume on Skepticism and Moral Distinctions
Chair: Karánn Durland (Austin College)
Speaker: Brian Ribeiro (University of Tennessee–Chattanooga)
“Hume’s Changing Views on the ‘Durability’ of Skepticism”
“Hume on the ‘Reality’ of Moral Distinctions”

Friday

II-G. Colloquium: Ancient Philosophy: Epistemology and Metaphysics
9:00 a.m.-Noon
9:00-10:00 a.m.
Chair: Martin Henn (University of Wisconsin–Whitewater)
Speaker: Russell Jones (University of Oklahoma)
“Bivalence and Contradictory Pairs in Aristotle’s De Interpretatione 9”
**Graduate Student Travel Stipend Winner**
Commentator: Dean A. Kowalski (University of Wisconsin–Waukesha)
10:00-11:00 a.m.
Chair: Alan Kim (Hamilton College)
Speaker: Naomi Reshotko (University of Denver)
“Is There an Intermediate Position between Knowing and Not Knowing? The Wax Block in Plato’s Theaetetus”
Commentator: Yancy Hughes Dominick (Seattle University)
11:00 a.m.-Noon
Chair: Elizabeth A. Hoppe (Lewis University)
Speaker: David Bronstein (Oxford University/University of Toronto)
“Understanding Meno’s Paradox in Aristotle’s Posterior Analytics I.1”
**Graduate Student Travel Stipend Winner**
Commentator: Owen Goldin (Marquette University)

I hope to see some of you in Chicago!

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Monday, April 07, 2008

Open Society Workshop Update

For those of you who are coming to our workshop on Epistemological Conceptions of the Open Society tomorrow, the papers by Kappel and Faulkner are now posted here.

Epistemic Autonomy Conference

Jennifer Lackey has sent me the following conference announcement. This looks like a great event.

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

CALL FOR PAPERS

The place of epistemic agents
Autonomy and dependence in epistemology

University Carlos III, Madrid (UC3M) -Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM)
October 2-3, 2008

Among the intellectual ideals inherited from the Enlightenment, autonomy is considered the
most valuable and essential in the pursuit of a rich intellectual life. But this ideal contrasts with the
reality of our permanent dependence in epistemic matters. We constantly rely on others and need to
place our trust in them in order to epistemically secure most of our more cherished beliefs.
Some recent versions in virtue epistemology emphasize the role of the agent in the acquisition of
epistemically valuable beliefs. No doubt, the cognitive character of epistemic subjects and how they
are involved in the task of knowing are crucial in our understanding of the very value of knowledge.
Moreover, a reflective turn suggested by certain foundationalist trends in epistemology has shaped
under a new light the question of the normativity of our epistemic agency, specially in cases of
judging and other active epistemic tasks performed by the subject. What is then the place we have
to give to agents in epistemology?

The aim of this conference is to discuss both the role of the autonomous epistemic agent in the
acquisition of knowledge and the role that the dependence on others (and also on artifacts) has in
our epistemic endeavors. The following topics are of interest for the conference:

- What do we understand by epistemic autonomy?
- Is epistemic autonomy truly an individualist ideal?
- Is autonomy equivalent to epistemic self-sufficiency?
- What is it to be an epistemic agent?
- How is the character of the agents involved in the acquisition of knowledge?
- How to conceive of the cognitive integration of an epistemic subject?
- How to characterize agent-centered epistemologies in terms of autonomy of the knowers?
- How to tackle questions about epistemic responsibility and subjective justification?
- How does autonomy matter to the issue of epistemic normativity and agency?
- What do we understand by epistemic dependence?
- Is testimonial knowledge a sort of dependent knowledge?
- Is testimony in conflict with the autonomy of the knower?
- Is dependence on representational artifacts of any epistemic significance?

Confirmed speakers
Baron Reed (Northwestern University)
Ernest Sosa (Rutgers University)
Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern University)
Klemens Kappel (University of Copenhague)
Pascal Engel (Université de Genève)

Call for papers.
Papers are invited on any of the topics of the conference. Extended abstracts of no more than 1500
words should be sent to Jesús Vega (jesus.vega@uam.es) before July 31st, 2008. The abstracts must
be prepared for blind review. Acceptance will be notified before September 5th. Papers accepted
will have 35 minutes for presentation.
For further information, please contact Jesús Vega (jesus.vega@uam.es) and Fernando Broncano
(fernando.broncano@hum.uc3m.es).

Organizing Committee:
Fernando Broncano (UC3M)
Carlos Thiebaut (UC3M)
Jesús Vega (UAM)
Alberto Rubio (UAM)
Guillermo de Eugenio (UC3M)
Mario Santos (UAM)
Scientific Committee
Carlos Thiebaut (UC3M, Madrid)
Ernest Sosa (Rutgers)
Fernando Broncano (UC3M, Madrid)
Jennifer Lackey (Northwestern University)
Jesús Vega (UAM)
Jesús Zamora Bonilla (UNED, Madrid)
Klemens Kappel (Copenhague)

The conference is organised in the framework of a project on “Epistemology of agency and
epistemic practices” and of a network of researchers in Madrid under the heading Cultures,
Representations, Spaces and Practices (CREP).