2010 Spring Philosophy Lecture Schedule
01/12/2010: Identity on the Way to Mars: Technology and the Contention Between the Individual and Polity Identities.
HB Paksoy, Ph.D.
Online Faculty / Mentor, Baker College.
Philosophy lecture: Throughout history, it is possible to observe a continuous contention between the individual and the polity identities. This intra-communal bifurcation manifests itself in all activities of human endeavor, including economic, political and personal versus sovereign states rights. However, never before the role of technology has been elevated to the present level, contesting all comers, to reach absolute supremacy. This contention is not only to replace previous holders of levers to rule or dictate, but to reach levels of control heretofore unknown. Obviously, technology, without human guidance cannot achieve a result. Left unchecked, any governing strata can utilize the technological means to deny any segment of society the individual rights that have been at least philosophically established.
01/26/2010: Postmodernism: What It Does for Us and What It Doesn't.
Darrell Bock, Ph.D.
Research Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, a former Humboldt Scholar at the University of Tübingen Germany, Ph.D from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
Philosophy lecture: I will outline the strengths and problems with post-modernism as I see it.
I will show how it is a mixed bag in many ways, freeing us up to appreciate other views but ultimately leaving us in a weaker place in terms of assessing differences.
02/09/2010: The Philosophy of Harry Frankfurt.
John M. Talmadge, M.D.
Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Harry G. Frankfurt is professor emeritus of philosophy at Princeton University. Frankfurt proposes that in addition to the traditional domains of epistemology (what to believe) and ethics (how to behave), we should acknowledge a third branch of inquiry pertaining to a fundamental preoccupation of human existence: the importance of what we care about. Frankfurt is known for his thoughtful exploration of the problems of human will, volition, responsibility, and agency. John M. Talmadge, M.D. is a practicing psychiatrist and a professor on the clinical faculty at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Dr. Talmadge will explore one particular theme in Frankfurt’s analytical philosophy: his account of freedom of the will based on his concept of “higher order desires and volitions.” Frankfurt’s approach to philosophy is relevant to any scientific attempt to intervene in the lives of others, and he raises questions that are both stimulating and disturbing. He suggests that “wanton” individuals may be fundamentally incapable of the change, for example, commonly expected of persons suffering addictions. Talmadge asserts that Frankfurt’s analysis possesses the potential for transforming our concepts of mental health and disease.
If intervention and treatment in mental health should include concepts of choice, responsibility, and purpose, Talmadge says that modern psychiatric and psychological practice is often inattentive to such notions. The biological revolution in psychiatry generates dramatic advances in neuroscience. However, such necessary knowledge is insufficient if we neglect the ideas that Frankfurt illuminates as essential and of deep practical significance. Speaking as a professor himself and a clinical practitioner with over thirty years in the field, Talmadge argues that a psychiatric profession uninformed by philosophy may be "effective," but to what end? In the darkest of scenarios, psychiatry can become damaging and dangerous.
02/23/2010: Exploring the Other within the We: Phenomenology with a Bonobo.
Dr. Scott Churchill
University of Dallas
Philosophy lecture: Second person perspectivity, grounded in the phenomenology of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty, will be presented as a foundation for the understanding and approach to other sentient beings.
In developing the notions of empathy (Husserl) and self-transposition (Dilthey, Heidegger) in reference to understanding animal worlds, we will consider the deeper meanings of what it means to be the "witness" of behavior (Merleau-Ponty) – and of how the role of the witness changes once we move from "third person" to "second person" perspectives. A video documentary of interspecies communication will serve as a basis for reflection on the contours of subjectivity as revealed reflexively within the "we-relationship."
03/09/2010: Rhetoric And Vision: How A Leader’s Words Matter.
Dr. Marjorie Hass
President of Austin College
Philosophy lecture: Leaders are often called upon to make remarks at significant cultural moments—award ceremonies, dedications, commemorations. While many speakers offer nothing more than canned statements, those with rhetorical genius (for example, Churchill, Lincoln, or King) use these moments to shape the future by offering words that listeners find intensely fitting to the occasion. Some have suggested that such linguistic skill—the ability to transform an institution with words—is an essential aspect of leadership. But what is linguistically operative in these performances? What is it that such expression does for us as individuals and as participants in various institutions? How is rhetorical creativity used in the service of good or evil? Drawing on the work of such diverse thinkers as Wittgenstein, Aristotle, and Christopher Bollas, Dr. Hass will explore the complex relationships between rhetorical skill and leadership.
03/23/2010: Environmental Justice and the Ethical Crisis of Climate Change.
Robert Figueroa
Director, Environmental Justice Project, University of North Texas Department of Philosophy
In this presentation, I consider how two prominent environmental ethicists, Stephen Gardiner and Dale Jamieson, have thought about climate change; particularly, their account of the ethical crisis of climate change. I then enter the discussion with an explicit environmental justice framework that deals with the environmental identity, environmental heritage, and forms of justice that are needed to address this crisis. As a result, I argue that bivalent environmental justice is the most adequate way to navigate the perils of the theoretical storm these other thinkers have brought to our attention.
04/13/2010: The Historical Roots of Post-Modernism.
Jim Filler
Eastfield College
That we live in a post-modern world is undisputed, but what characterizes Post-modernism, and how have we arrived at this state? I will examine the development of philosophy as it relates to the rise of Post-modern thought. We will pay particular attention to Descartes, examining how he marks a radical shift in philosophical thought which finds its ultimate fulfillment in Nietzsche, who, in his turn, marks the beginning of Post-modernism.
04/27/2010: Philosophy's Lesson: Reasoned Commitment in the Face of Uncertainty.
Dr. Robert M Baird, Ph.D.
Former Chair, Department of Philosophy, Professor and Master Teacher, Baylor University
Is there a claim more intimately associated with philosophy than the Socratic maxim: the unexamined life is not worth living? But this critical life of the mind inevitably plants, nourishes, and harvests uncertainty, doubt, and ambiguity. How should one respond to this experience of uncertainty, the anguish of doubt, the encounter with ambiguity? Fyodor Dostoevsky's Underground Man suggests two possibilities: rejecting the critical life of the mind for dogmatic certitude or succumbing to doubt and ambiguity by refusing to be a decision-maker. This paper is an attempt to articulate philosophy's middle way: reasoned commitment in the face of uncertainty.
05/11/2010: Religion, Political Philosophy, and the US Supreme Court.
Will Geisler
Ph.D. student, University of Dallas. MA in Politics, University of Dallas. MA in Liberal Arts, St. John’s College. BA in Philosophy, Biola University.
Government instructor, Tarrant County College Southeast. Philosophy instructor, Brookhaven College.
There is great disagreement in the history of philosophy regarding the truth of particular religious claims; yet, almost all the philosophers agree that religious teaching is salutary—that is, religion benefits society. In this lecture, we will discuss why the philosophers found religion, in general, to be useful and why they chose not to explicitly undermine religion. We will then consider the fate of religion in American society, both at the Founding and in recent times, paying particular attention to key Supreme Court decisions that have had the effect of undermining religion’s usefulness to society.
05/25/2010: A Philosophical Analysis of Aspects of Growth of Population and Consumption.
Brian A. Tinsley, Ph.D.
Center for Space Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas
Is population growth and the resultant changes in the environment bad?
Philosophy lecture: Dr. Tinsley will present a philosophical analysis of aspects of growth of population and consumption in the context of natural and antropogenic climate change.
The growing population of humans on planet Earth has occurred because the development of technology has allowed wilderness areas to be converted into cities, with the remaining arable wilderness converted into farms and supporting hinterland. Our increasing use of energy, as we continue to improve our standard of living, is changing the climate. If the trends continue for a time short compared to the history of civilization, our descendents will live on a planet with a mostly artificial surface, with a climate manipulated by geoengineering.
But will the trends continue, and if so, will this necessarily be bad from a human point of view? Why should we be concerned about the fate of other species?
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