Check out the latest from the Agora, “Is this the best of all possible worlds?” by Adrian Moore.

See this new article by Adrian Moore in @aj_wendland‘s Agora series @NewStatesman. A.W. Moore is a professor of philosophy and tutorial fellow at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. He is the author of The Infinite, Points of View and The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics.

The Agora series is a collaboration between the New Statesman and Aaron James Wendland. Wendland is vision fellow in public philosophy at King’s College, London and a senior research fellow at Massey College, Toronto. He tweets @aj_wendland.

See the latest from the Agora, “Are Severe Sanctions on Russia Morally Justified” by Avia Pasternak & Zofia Stemplowska.

See this new article by Avia Pasternak and Zofia Stemplowska in @aj_wendland‘s Agora series @NewStatesman. Avia Pasternak is Associate Professor in Political Theory at University College London. She is the author of Responsible Citizens, Irresponsible States: Should Citizens Pay for their State’s Wrongdoings? Zofia Stemplowska is Professor of Political Theory and Asa Briggs Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford. She is the co-editor of Responsibility and Distributive Justice.

We are very pleased to invite all to attend Mark Sainsbury Fest, a 2-day conference in honour and recognition of Mark Sainsbury.

The Mark Sainsbury Fest will include KCL’s Annual Sainsbury Lecture, given this year by Professor Dorothy Edgington (link to register for the Annual Sainsbury Lecture here!).


SCHEDULE

Day One – May 16

[Venue: The Council Room, King’s College London]

2:00-2:10pm: Introduction by Maria Alvarez, Maria Rosa Antognazza, and Alex Grzankowski

2:10-3:00pm: Panel discussion
Barry Smith
MM McCabe
Tim Crane
Anthony Savile
David Papineau

3:00-3:30pm: Break

3:30-5:30pm: 2 Talks (40+20 minutes discussion each)
Hans Kamp (Chair: Julie Hunter)
Sir Richard Sorabji (Chair: Anna-Sara Malmgren)

5:30-6:00pm: Break

[Venue: Move to Safra Lecture Theatre]

6:00pm: Mark Sainsbury Lecture by Dorothy Edgington (Chair: MM McCabe)
(Please note that booking is required to attend this lecture – link to register for the Annual Sainsbury Lecture here.)

8:00pm: Wine Reception in the Somerset Room


Day Two – May 17

[Venue: Senate House/Institute of Philosophy, Room 349]

10:00am-12:00pm: 2 Talks (40+20 minutes discussion each)
Genoveva Marti (Chair: Bryan Pickel)
Keith Hossack (Chair: Michael Tye)

12:00-13:30pm: Lunch Break

13:30-14:30pm: “Short Talks” (Chair: Stacie Friend)
Giulia Felappi
Marcello Oreste Fiocco
Tom Crowther

14:30-16:00pm: Lecture by Mark Sainsbury (Chair: David Sosa)

Final greetings by Maria Alvarez, Maria Rosa Antognazza, Alex Grzankowski

Please feel free to direct any questions to Alex Grzankowski at alex.grzankowski@gmail.com!

Date & Time: Monday 16^th May, 18:00 GMT+1

Venue: Safra Theatre, Strand Campus, King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

‘Two Kinds of Indeterminacy’

Speaker: Professor Dorothy Edgington FBA

Chair: Professor MM McCabe FBA

The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception (Somerset Room, KCL).

All are very welcome. Registration via Eventbrite is required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/311672660317

Check out yet another fascinating piece from the Agora, “What anger tells us about ourselves” by Myisha Cherry!

See this new article by Myisha Cherry in @aj_wendland‘s Agora series @NewStatesman. Myisha Cherry is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. She is the author of The Case for Rage: Why Anger is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle. 

@aj_wendland launched and runs the philosophy column in The New Statesman called Agora, which is a space for academics to address contemporary social, political and cultural issues from a philosophical point of view.

Check out the latest from the Agora, “How refugees strengthen democracy” by Ashwini Vasanthakumar.

See this new article by Ashwini Vasanthakumar in @aj_wendland‘s Agora series @NewStatesman. Ashwini Vasanthakumar is Queen’s National Scholar in Legal and Political Philosophy and Associate Professor of Law at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. She is also the author of The Ethics of Exile (OUP).

@aj_wendland launched and runs the philosophy column in The New Statesman called Agora, which is a space for academics to address contemporary social, political and cultural issues from a philosophical point of view.

Neil Dewar (Cambridge): “Equivalence and Convention”
BBLOC Seminar

Thursday 17 March 2022, 4:30pm
K2.40, King’s College London Strand Campus, Strand, WC2R 2LS
Please register here

Abstract: In this paper, I discuss the relationship between theoretical equivalence and convention. After reviewing the idea that when we disagree over a (mere) convention, we are advocating theoretically equivalent descriptions, I consider the possibility of conventions about equivalence – i.e., conventions as to what standard of theoretical equivalence should be adopted. I argue that Carnap’s Principle of Tolerance illuminates what to say about such cases, despite initial impressions to the contrary.

Check out the latest from the Agora, “Should consuming revenge porn be a criminal offense?” by Helen Frowe & Jonathan Parry.

See this new article by Helen Frowe & Jon Parry in @aj_wendland‘s Agora series @NewStatesman. Helen Frowe is Professor of Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University and Jonathan Parry is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics.

@aj_wendland launched and runs the philosophy column in The New Statesman called Agora, which is a space for academics to address contemporary social, political and cultural issues from a philosophical point of view.

** Please note that, due to the high demand for this event, we have added the option of attending remotely (registration via the Eventbrite link below). If you have booked an in-person place but are no longer able to attend, or prefer to switch to online attendance, please cancel or amend your booking via the link below. This will allow one of the persons currently on the waiting list to be given an in-person place. Many thanks!

Venue: KCL Strand Campus, Bush House 8th Floor (North), 30 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4BG

“The Humanization of Endless War and the Cause of Peace”

Speaker: Professor Samuel Moyn, Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and Professor of History at Yale University

The Peace Lectures are due to Alan Lacey, a life-long pacifist who taught philosophy at King’s College London for some fifteen years, and who left a generous bequest to fund a lecture series promoting peace. The series is organized by KCL Philosophy Department.

The lecture will be followed by a reception at Bush House, 8th Floor (South) and by the announcement of the winners of the Estella Newsome Memorial Prize essay competition (sponsored by the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament).

All welcome! Booking required.

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/kcl-annual-peace-lecture-prof-samuel-moyn-tickets-254545080187

Call for Papers from the Journal of Philosophy in Schools– From the campus to the classroom: university philosophy outreach programs

University philosophy outreach programs are proliferating. On campuses across the world, students and staff are taking philosophy out to the wider community, and especially to children and young people in schools. Their mission is to engage the public in philosophical discussion and to make a notoriously abstract and arcane subject accessible, meaningful and useful.

As yet, there is little published research on these programs. They give rise to two clusters of questions deserving of scholary attention. First, there are questions about the rationale for philosophy outreach. What is the purpose of taking philosophy into the community? What are the intended benefits of these programs, to the children and young people who participate in them, to the students and staff who lead them, to society at large, or to the discipline of philosophy itself? How do these aims inform the selection of philosophical topics, texts, tools and techniques? The second group of questions have to do with the success of philosophy outreach. What attempts have been made to evaluate these programs and their outcomes? Do they, in fact, yield the benefits intended by those who design and deliver them? Are there any drawbacks to participation, or benefits other than the intended ones? What challenges (financial, institutional, pedagogical, psychological) have been encountered by those engaged in philosophy outreach and how have they been overcome?

Papers are invited for a special issue of Journal of Philosophy in Schools (JPS) on university philosophy outreach programs. Papers may be theoretical or empirical and may focus on any of the questions suggested above. Prospective authors are welcome to contact the editors of the special issue – Michael Hand (m.hand@bham.ac.uk) and Jane Gatley (j.o.gatley@bham.ac.uk) – to discuss their ideas.

In the first instance, please submit an abstract (max 200 words), summarising your proposed paper, to m.hand@bham.ac.uk by 31 May 2022.

Full submissions will be due on 31 October 2022 and should conform to the usual JPS author guidelines (https://jps.bham.ac.uk/about/submissions/).

JPS is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access online journal hosted by the University of Birmingham UK and affiliated with the Federation of Asia-Pacific Philosophy in Schools Associations (FAPSA).