The Department of Philosophy is closely associated with the Department of Gender and Social Justice our staff administrates both programs and many of our faculty teach in both areas. For more information on the Gender and Social Justice Department visit their website
Philosophy addresses some of the most fundamental and difficult questions there are, such as:
- What is the nature of the human mind?
- What makes knowledge trustworthy?
- What are the standards of good reasoning?
- What is a just society?
- What is the best way to live?
Philosophy as an academic discipline attempts to answer these questions with a combination of creativity and analytical rigor.
Events
Mariam Thalos: Reasoning in Context
The concept of intelligence has been difficult to get one’s arms around. Surprisingly, the same can be said also of the notion of reasoning. This talk aims at shedding some light on certain aspects of human reasoning - reasoning for practical life. This will put us in a better position to make some comparisons between (some aspects of) human reasoning, and what Large Language Models (LLMs) are doing - they look to be doing quite different things. Reasoning, at least as humans do it, involves architecture that Computer Science has apparently abandoned for the current generation of AI models. We will pose questions about whether this current generation is capable of moving past their present obstacles.
Michael Doan: Three Images of Automation
“I will compare and contrast the thought of C.L.R. James, Raya Dunayevskaya, and James Boggs in the 1950s to early 60s, focusing on their efforts to make sense of industrial automation and project new goals for revolutionary movements. This is the period when James Boggs’ and Grace Lee Boggs’ distinctive philosophical orientation, dialectical humanism, begins to emerge.”
Ethics and AI Symposium
An interdisciplinary symposium exploring ethical issues involving AI and machine learning
News
Brian Orend featured in Daily Bulletin
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Seizing Happiness Through Adversity
New publication from Andria Bianchi
Former student Andria Bianchi published a new book entitled Intellectual Disabilities and Autism: Ethics and Practice.
New publication by Jackie Feke
Professor Feke's latest publication "Ancient Greek Laws of Nature." found in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science shows that the ancient Greeks had an idea of laws of nature and that the modern idea of laws of nature may have its roots in ancient Pythagoreanism.