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The Philosophy Newsletter
Issue 4: Fall 2023
World Philosophy Day
As is our tradition, we recently celebrated World Philosophy Day!
This year, UNESCO's WPD fell on November 16th and we made sure to pack the day with engaging events!
The first one was a discussion run by graduate students Kay Wagg, Claire French, and Jeremy Garbe. Participants discussed the theme Finding meaning in the online world: social media, videogames, pleasure, and vice. The event had a wonderful turn out from both students and faculty. Thank you to our grad students for organizing this event!
The second WPD event was an evening Panel with Drs. Todd Calder (Saint Mary's University), Nigel DeSouza (University of Ottawa), Carleton's Kyla Bruff and David Matheson with Jay Drydyk as moderator. Each panelist approached the topic discussed, Is it Possible to Find Meaning in Vice or Evil and Still Be Morally Good? from a unique angle. The event was followed by a reception where students, faculty and guests continued the discussion over food and refreshments.
From left to right: Drs. Calder (Saint Mary's), Bruff (CU), DeSouza (U of O), Matheson (CU), and Drydyk (CU)
Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate philosophy! We can't wait to host you again next year.
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Research, Publications, Conferences
Congratulations to EPAF Director Vida Panitch on the recent publication of The Routledge Handbook of Commodification.
Dr. Panitch co-edited the volume with Dr. Elodie Bertrand (CNRS /U. de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne).Elodie Bertran
The Ottawa Political Thought Research Network invited Dr. Koggel to comment on Patti Lenard's book Democracy and Exclusion. Dr. Lenard is Professor of Public and International Affairs at U of O.
Dr. Mylopoulos presented "Higher-Order Approaches to Consciousness and the Dilemma of Demandingness" at The Science of Consciousness Conference in Taormina, Sicily. She also co-authored "Theories of consciousness and a life worth living" in Current Opinion in Behavioral Science.
Dr. Bruff presented a paper on the young Schelling’s romanticism at the GSA in Montréal and another on "The State in Schelling's 1804 Würzburg System" in Freiburg, Germany. She was also a respondent at the Leuven Seminar in Classical German Philosophy and recently published a book chapter on Schelling and second nature.
Drs. Jay Drydyk, Christine Koggel, and Marie-Pier Lemay, as well as EPAF Alumna Dr. O'Neill have all been published in The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Poverty.
Dr. Contessa published "It Takes a Village to Trust Science: Towards a (Thoroughly) Social Approach to Public Trust in Science" in Erkenntnis, and gave a talk titled, "Public Trust in Science and the Justified Trust Dilemma," at GRIN (Groupe de Recherche Interuniversitaire sur la Normativité) in Montréal.
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Student Spotlight
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MA student Gavin Foster recently completed a research stay as a Visiting Graduate Student at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, under the supervision of Professor Christopher Krupenye. Gavin’s research, supported by a SSHRC CGS scholarship, considers whether non-human animals are capable of engaging in sophisticated forms of reasoning. His travel and research stay are supported by a SSHRC Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement. Gavin also presented a paper, "Davidson and Morgan's Canon," at the 11th Conference for Analytic Philosophy. |
Faculty Spotlight
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Two faculty members have recently been featured in FASS' Research Review magazine Impactful Research for a Changing World. For the article on Dr. Mylopoulos' research "Understanding Mind and Action through Philosophy," see p. 27, and for Dr. Bruff portrait as a "dynamic researcher," go to p. 50!DrDr |
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Public Philosophy & Community Engagement
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Last year, Carleton's Philosophy Department became an official partner of the Ontario Ethics Bowl. On February 3rd 2024, Carleton will host the first OEB regional qualifier event! Twelve teams of youth passionate about ethics will compete to qualify for the provincial championship.
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Philososphy and Artificial Intelligence
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Philosophy is well-equipped to examine the issues raised by the ubiquity of AI in our lives. While Dr. Redstone's fall seminar explored the topic Ethics and A.I.: Challenges and Opportunities, Dr. Mylopoulos taught AI: Philosophical and Ethical
Implications (CGSC 3603/PHIL3503). She will be teaching another section of that brand new course in the winter! |
The Department is also creating a course entirely dedicated to the Ethics of AI. If everything goes to plan, PHIL2401 should be offered in 2024-25. Keep your eyes peeled!
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New Initiatives
NEW Second-Year MA Writing Workshop
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Our Grad Supervisor and Grad Administrator introduced a new initiative to assist second year MA students progress with their thesis writing. On Colloquium days, students are invited to campus to work in a collaborative environment. The first three writing workshops were a success! Students have reported that the workshop has been motivating, building a sense of communal support and helping them advance with their writing.
Colloquium Pizza Lunch and Reception
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Fridays in the Philosophy Department have become our favourite days! Graduate students and senior BA students are invited to a pizza lunch before attending Colloquium followed by a reception with coffee and tea in The Philosophy Lounge. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to interact with Colloquium guest speakers, professors, and peers.
Make sure not to miss our winter Philosophy Colloquium Series! The Winter Colloquium schedule is now available here.
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Alumni News
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Congratulations to alumnus Brandon Smith, now PhD candidate at McGill, who recently published "Spinoza's Early Modern Eudaimonism: Corporeal and Intellectual Flourishing," in Dialogue, 2023, 1-26.
We are so proud of our community of Alumni!
This fall, the Alumni Wednesday social media campaing featured Dr. Aaron Mills, Assistant Professor at McGill, and Arthur White-Crummey, reporter at CBC Ottawa.
Acclaimed poet Liam Burke also joined our Alumni Gallery. Liam obtained his MA in Philosophy in 2022 and is now Program Management Officer at Public Safety Canada. Liam's work was shortlisted for the bpNichol and the Austin Clarke awards, and won Arc Poetry Magazine's Diana Brebner Award!.
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PHIL 4220
Animal Consciousness (M. Mylopoulos)
This seminar explores theoretical approaches to consciousness, such as higher-order theory and global workspace theory. It aims to determine their utility in understanding the distribution of consciousness in nonhuman animal species.
PHIL 4320
The Ethics of Social Movements (M.P. Lemay)
This course delves into contemporary ethical debates and theories on social movements. Originating from Avery Kolers' 2016 critique, it explores a resurgence in writings, emphasizing normative insights, and theories drawn from empirical cases, covering civil disobedience, violence, group ontology, epistemic dimensions, ethics of deference, morality of ecotage, and insights from Indigenous thinkers.
PHIL 4005
Causation and Freedom in Early Modern Philosophy (M. Frankel)
This seminar explores the essence of laws of nature, the science-metaphysics relationship, and human freedom in a law-governed world, including divine governance. Early modern philosophies from Descartes, Malebranche, Locke, Leibniz, and others guide our exploration.
Winter 2024 Colloquium (K. Bruff)
Students attend each talk in the departmental colloquium series, preparing by doing mandatory background readings, and submit in writing a critical analysis of some aspect of the presentation.
Research Seminar (C. Koggel)
The primary objective of this seminar is to develop topics for theses or research essays. Students will consult with potential supervisors during this process.
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Fall Events
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Dr. Deborah Poff kicked off this year's Colloquium Series with a timely talk titled, "Misconduct and Publication Ethics: From Ordinary Forms of Discrimination to the ethically Opaque World of AI."
On October 20th, we were joined by EPAF Alumna Dr. Kerry O'Neill, Assistant Professor at McMaster, who gave a talk on "Conditional Cash Transfers as Third-Party State Exploitation."
On November 3rd. Dr. Kevin Lande of York University gave a thought-provoking talk on "The Spatial Unity of Perception."
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Dr. Todd Calder of Saint Mary's University was our guest for WPD and also gave a talk on "Evil, Wrongdoing, and Vice" in our Colloquium Series.
For a list of our previous Colloquium talks, click here.
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Our last guest speaker of the term was Dr. Alice MacLachlan. Her talk titled "So you [Don't] want to Publicly Shame," was followed by a lively discussion in the lounge!
The Carleton University Philosophy Society (CUPS) held two discussion nights this term. The first was hosted by undergraduate student Nathan Scherr and the second was hosted by Graduate student Kay Wagg.
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What's Coming Up?
• Make sure to check out all of our Winter 2024 course offerings HERE!
• Registration for the Winter 2024 term has begun. Please be sure to register by January 19th, 2023.
• Carleton University will be closed for the Holidays from December 23rd, 2023 to January 3rd, 2024.
• Winter course outlines will be made available to students registered in full time winter studies by January 1st.
Happy Holidays!
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