Prize: Marc Sanders Prize in Metaphysics

The Marc Sanders Prize in Metaphysics

In keeping with its mission of encouraging and recognizing excellence in philosophy, The Marc Sanders Foundation seeks to highlight the importance of ongoing support for the work of younger scholars. As part of this commitment, the Foundation has dedicated resources to an ongoing essay competition, designed to promote excellent research and writing in metaphysics on the part of younger scholars.

Sponsored by The Marc Sanders Foundation and administered by the editorial board of Oxford Studies in Metaphysics, this essay competition is open to scholars who are within fifteen (15) years of receiving a Ph.D. and to students who are currently enrolled in a graduate program. The annual prize amount is $8,000. Winning essays will appear in Oxford Studies in Metaphysics.

Current Competition Details

The Marc Sanders Prize in Metaphysics is an annual essay competition open to scholars who are within fifteen (15) years of receiving a Ph.D. or students who are currently enrolled in a graduate program. Independent scholars may also be eligible, and should contact Dean Zimmerman at dwzimmer@rci.rutgers.edu.  The award for the prize winning essay is $8,000, and winning essays will be published in Oxford Studies in Metaphysics.

Submitted essays must present original research in Metaphysics.  Essays should be between 7,500 and 15,000 words.  Since winning essays will appear in Oxford Studies in Metaphysics submissions must not be under review elsewhere. To be eligible for this year’s prize, submissions must be received, electronically, by January 31st 2015.  Refereeing will be blind; authors should omit remarks and references that might disclose their identities. Receipt of submissions will be acknowledged by e-mail. The winner will be determined by a committee of members of the Editorial Board of Oxford Studies in Metaphysics and will be announced by late-March. 

Inquiries should be directed to Dean Zimmerman, co-editor with Karen Bennett of Oxford Studies in Metaphysics, at dwzimmer@rci.rutgers.edu
 

http://www.marcsandersfoundation.org/sanders-prizes/metaphysics/

CFP: Society for the Metaphysics of Science (1st Annual Conference)

The Society for the Metaphysics of Science will be holding its first annual conference on September 17-18, 2015 at Rutgers University – Newark.  As well as various presentations, the conference will also feature the first organizational meeting of the Society which will elect officers, begin to make various policies, plan future conferences, etc. Both those interested in presenting papers and/or participating in the Society are invited to the conference. (For more information on the society, see the Society for the Metaphysics of Science web page.)

At the conference, presentations will be 40 minutes.  Submissions should be on a topic in the metaphysics of science broadly construed, of no more than 6,000 words and should include an abstract of ~150 words and a word count.  All papers must employ gender-neutral language and be prepared for blind review. 

Submissions must be made using the Easychair online submission system at: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=sms2015.  The submission deadline is March 1, 2015.  Notifications of acceptance will be delivered by May 15, 2015.  The conference will have a $50 registration fee.  (The fee will be waived for graduate students.)

Our keynote speaker will be Barry Loewer, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, and all other sessions will comprise submitted papers.

Questions may be gmailed to ken.aizawa.

Program Committee:

Ken Aizawa, Rutgers University, Newark, Chair

Carl Gillett, Northern Illinois University

Alyssa Ney, Rochester University

Thomas Polger, University of Cincinnati

Jessica Wilson, University of Toronto

'Only Powers Can Confer Dispositions'

I'm delighted to announce that my paper 'Only Powers Can Confer Dispositions' is now forthcoming in The Philosophical Quarterly!

New Journal: Ergo

First issue: http://www.ergophiljournal.org/

Julia Jorati (OSU) on a paper in early modern by Paul Lodge (Oxford):
http://philosophymodsquad.wordpress.com/

Anna Mahtani (LSE) on a paper by Michael Caie (Pittsburgh):
http://choiceandinference.com/, http://m-phi.blogspot.ca/

Ellen Clark (Oxford) on a paper in philosophy of biology by
Christopher Hitchcock (Caltech) and Joel Velasco (Texas Tech):
http://philosomama.blogspot.co.uk/

Thomas Nadelhoffer (Charleston) on a paper in experimental philosophy
by John Turri (Waterloo):
http://philosophycommons.typepad.com/xphi/

RIP E. J. (Jonathan) Lowe (1950–2014)

I have just heard the terrible news that Jonathan Lowe passed away on January. This is an enormous loss for philosophy in general and for metaphysics in particular, as well as, of course, for all those who knew him. Below is the memorial notice by his Durham colleagues Robin Hendry and Matthew Ratcliffe.

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Professor E. J. (Jonathan) Lowe. Jonathan was born in Dover, England, on 24^th March 1950. He went to Cambridge to read Natural Sciences in 1968, but changed to History after one year and was awarded a BA (first class) in 1971. After that, he switched to Philosophy and moved to Oxford, where he was awarded his BPhil and DPhil degrees in 1974 and 1975 (supervised by Rom Harré and Simon Blackburn respectively). After a brief period teaching at Reading, Jonathan joined the Department of Philosophy at Durham in 1980, where he stayed for the rest of his career. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer (1990), Reader (1992) and then Professor (1995). During his time at Durham, Jonathan established himself as one of the world’s leading philosophers, publishing twelve single-authored books, four co-edited collections and well over 200 articles in journals and edited volumes. His scholarship was strikingly broad, ranging from early modern philosophy through to the interpretation of quantum mechanics. His most important and sustained contributions were to philosophy of mind, philosophical logic and especially metaphysics. Jonathan adopted a realist conception of metaphysics as an autonomous discipline concerned with the fundamental structure of reality, as exemplified by his important book The Possibility of Metaphysics (OUP, 1998). Metaphysics, he maintained, should take common sense as its starting point, while at the same time acknowledging that aspects of common sense will need to be revised or abandoned. It should also retain a healthy respect for science but resist scientism, as the role of metaphysics is to illuminate features of reality that empirical scientific enquiry inevitably presupposes. It is therefore the most fundamental form of enquiry and - as Jonathan also emphasised – something that is extremely difficult to do. But, he insisted, there are no cheap short-cuts, and no piecemeal solutions to metaphysical problems. Metaphysics is to be done systematically and patiently. Jonathan’s approach drew inspiration from Aristotle and Locke, amongst others, both of whom retained a foothold in common sense. His metaphysical writings addressed a range of themes, including volition, personhood, agency, mental causation, identity, truth, essentialism and ontological categories. In recent years, one of his many notable achievements was the formulation of a new ‘four-category ontology’, which he proposed as a metaphysical foundation for all empirical scientific thought. The most detailed account of this appears in his book The Four-Category Ontology (OUP, 2006). Throughout his life, Jonathan was guided by a kind of faith in our ability to discover the fundamental structure of reality through metaphysical thought. He was spurred on by a constant sense of puzzlement, fascination and bewilderment at the existence and nature of reality, and would not let extraneous considerations distract him from a resolute search for truth. Those of us who knew him will remember him not just as a gifted and committed philosopher but also as an exceptionally kind, caring and generous person. He was an accomplished teacher, who did everything he possibly could to support, encourage, nurture and inspire his students, many of whom have gone on to have successful academic careers. He was similarly supportive of his colleagues at Durham and of the wider philosophical community. Philosophers from all over the world came to depend on him as a mentor and referee, and he would spend many hours most weeks writing carefully crafted letters of support. It was a privilege to work with Jonathan. He was always a keen participant in research events, at Durham and elsewhere, where he exercised his astonishingly refined critical skills and offered numerous insightful comments, without ever being dismissive. Even with his eminence in the profession and the many associated demands on his time, he insisted on doing his fair share (and usually more than his fair share) of administrative and teaching work. He was a reassuring presence in the department, who was always on hand to offer support, advice and consolation to colleagues. We are diminished by the loss of an outstanding philosopher and a great friend. Jonathan died on 5^th January 2014, after several months of illness. He leaves his wife, Susan, and their two adult children, Rebecca and Tim.

UPDATE 1 [Jan 10, 2014]: A funeral service for Jonathan Lowe will be held at Durham Cathedral Monday 20th January at 1.30pm. All are welcome.

UPDATE 2 [Jan 11, 2014]: Another remembrance notice (by his former student Tuomas Tahko) can be found here.

CfA: Metaphysical Mayhem 2014!

Metaphysical Mayhem continues!

http://www.jonathanschaffer.org/mayhem.html

Rutgers University will be hosting a five day metaphysics summer school for graduate students, running May 19th-23rd, 2014, and featuring Karen Bennett, Shamik Dasgupta, Laurie Paul, Jonathan Schaffer, and Ted Sider.

All local (NY/NJ area) graduate students are invited to attend.
Non-local graduate students must apply to attend, by sending the following to jonathan.schaffer@rutgers.edu by January 10, 2014:

• A single page cover letter

• A curriculum vitae

• A writing sample on any topic in metaphysics

• A brief letter of recommendation (which need be no more than one paragraph), sent from a professor familiar with your work

Applicants will be notified by February 1, 2014. Housing and possibly some limited financial support will be available for non-local graduate students. 

New Paper: "One's a Crowd: Mereological Nihilism without Ordinary-Object Eliminativism"

Have you always wanted to be a mereological nihilist but were too afraid to try? Do you like your cats, apples, and tables too much to be an eliminativist about ordinary objects? Then non-eliminative nihilism might be the right philosophical position for you!!! 

Now forthcoming in Analytic Philosophy "One's a Crowd: Mereological Nihilism without Ordinary-Object Eliminativism"!!!

It used to be a small paper (and some of the ideas in it were discussed in an old post on this blog); it grew into a 12,000-word monster but I'm very happy with it. 

Abstract: Mereological nihilism is the thesis that there are no composite objects—i.e. objects with proper material parts. One of the main advantages of mereological nihilism is that it allows its supporters to avoid a number of notorious philosophical puzzles. However, it seems to offer this advantage only at the expense of certain widespread and deeply entrenched beliefs. In particular, it is usually assumed that mereological nihilism entails eliminativism about ordinary objects—i.e. the counterintuitive thesis that there are no such things as tables, apples, cats, and the like. In this paper, I argue that this assumption is false—mereological nihilists do not need to be eliminativists about tables, apples, or cats. Non-eliminativist nihilists claim that all it takes for there to be a cat is that there are simples arranged cat-wise. More specifically, non-eliminative nihilists argue that expressions such as ‘the cat’ in sentences such as ‘The cat is on the mat’ do not refer to composite objects but only to simples arranged cat-wise and compare this metaphysical discovery to the scientific discovery that ‘water’ refers to dihydrogen oxide. Non-eliminative nihilism, I argue, is not only a coherent position, but it is preferable to its more popular, eliminativist counterpart, as it enjoys the key benefits of nihilism without incurring the prohibitive costs of eliminativism. Moreover, unlike conciliatory strategies adopted by eliminative nihilists, non-eliminative nihilism allow its supporters to account not only for how we can assert something true by saying ‘The cat is on the mat’ but also for how we can believe something true by believing that the cat is on the mat.

Favourite sentence in the paper: "So, unless one takes metaphysics to be merely the shadow of grammar, one should not take the fact that certain constructions are grammatical while others are not to be evidence for or against a certain metaphysical view."

A special thank-you to Dan Korman and Trenton Merricks, who gave me precious feedback on a very early draft.

New Open-Access Journal!

Ergo, An Open Access Journal of Philosophy

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ergo

Ergo is a general, open access philosophy journal accepting submissions on
all philosophical topics and from all philosophical traditions. This
includes, among other things: history of philosophy, work in both the
analytic and continental traditions, as well as formal and empirically
informed philosophy.

Ergo uses a triple-anonymous peer review process and aims to return
decisions within two months on average.

Ergo is published by MPublishing at the University of Michigan and
sponsord by the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto.
Papers are published as they are accepted; there is no regular publication
schedule.

To submit a paper, please register and login to Ergo's editorial
management system at:
http://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ergo/index

Submitted manuscripts should be prepared for anonymous review, containing
no identifying information. Submissions need not conform to the journal
style unless and until accepted for publication.

Submission and publication is free, but the journal essentially depends on
the support of reliable reviewers returning informative reports in a timely
manner. We hope that you will consider acting as referee for Ergo if asked
by one of its editors. We also hope that you will consider submitting your
work to Ergo.

Please share this call for papers with your colleagues!

Managing Editors
Franz Huber (University of Toronto)
Jonathan Weisberg (University of Toronto)
ergo.editors@gmail.com

Section Editors
Rachael Briggs (Australian National University & Griffith University)
Eleonora Cresto (University of Buenos Aires)
Vincenzo Crupi (University of Turin)
Imogen Dickie (University of Toronto)
Catarina Dutilh-Novaes (University of Groningen)
Kenny Easwaran (University of Southern California)
Matt Evans (University of Michigan)
Laura Franklin-Hall (New York University)
Ole Hjortland (LMU Munich)
Michelle Kosch (Cornell University)
Antonia LoLordo (University of Virginia)
Christy Mag Uidhir (University of Houston)
Julia Markovits (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Lionel McPherson (Tufts University)
Jennifer Nagel (University of Toronto)
Jill North (Cornell University)
Brian O'Connor (University College Dublin)
Laurie A. Paul (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Richard Pettigrew (Bristol University)
Martin Pickavé (University of Toronto)
Adam Sennet (University of California at Davis)
Nishi Shah (Amherst College)
Quayshawn Spencer (University of San Francisco)
Ásta Sveinsdóttir (San Francisco State University)
Robbie Williams (University of Leeds)
Wayne Wu (Carnegie Mellon University)
Jiji Zhang (Lingnan University)

Seminar: Metaphysics and Mind (Washington University in St Louis, June-July 2013)

METAPHYSICS AND MIND

NEH Summer Seminar
10 June-12 July 2013
Washington University in St Louis

A five-week National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar on metaphysical issues in the philosophy of mind led by John Heil, 10 June - 12 July 2013. Visiting faculty will include E. J. Lowe, Graham Oddie, and Alyssa Ney.

Sixteen participants will be chosen from among eligible applicants interested in metaphysical issues that arise in the philosophy of mind. Early sessions of the seminar will be devoted to discussion of fundamental metaphysical themes including the nature of properties, causality, laws of nature, powers, and qualities. Later sessions will be devoted to discussion of metaphysical themes of special interest to participants.

Seminar stipend: $3,900.

For more information, please visit the seminar website:

        http://artsci.wustl.edu/~neh13/

Job: Associate or Full Professor AOS: Metaphysics (St. Louis)

Saint Louis University, a Catholic Jesuit institution, dedicated to student learning, research, health care, and service, is seeking applicants for a senior appointment in Philosophy at the level of full or associate professor.  The position begins fall semester 2012.  Ph.D. required.  Teaching: two courses per semester, undergraduate and graduate; significant record of research and publication required.  Committee work; thesis and dissertation direction expected.  AOS: metaphysics.  AOC: open.  Qualified candidates must have knowledge of and be willing to contribute to Jesuit ideals and goals of education.  Salary dependent upon qualification and experience.  A complete dossier will contain a CV, letters of reference, and samples of publication.  Interested candidates must apply online at http://jobs.slu.edu.  Please direct all inquiries to: Theodore R. Vitali, C.P., Chair, Department of Philosophy, Saint Louis University, 3800 Lindell Boulevard, Suite 130, St. Louis, MO 63108.  Deadline: applications that are complete by Dec. 15, 2012 will be assured of the most careful consideration.  Saint Louis University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer, and encourages nominations of and applications from women and minorities. 

Job: Postdoc AOS: Metaphysics of Science (IHPST, Paris)

A postdoctoral position will be available at IHPST (Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques, Paris) within the French ANR funded project  “Metaphysics of Science”, for one year (September/October 2013 - August/September 2014), renewable for a second year (September/October 2014 - August/September 2015).
The successful candidate must pursue research, and already have some expertise, in at least one of the three domains in the focus of the project: 1) Levels of reality, 2) Individual objects in physics and biology, and 3) Dispositions in psychology and physics.

The post-doc will be expected to present his/her research at conferences and seminars, and to publish in peer-reviewed journals.

He or she will work at IHPST in Paris and will provide organizational support for the activities of the teams. Residence in Paris is strictly mandatory.

Major tasks will be to:
1) run the Metaphysics of Science seminar on a regular basis,
2) help organize the workshops of the research project,
3) create and maintain a website on the metaphysics of experimental sciences, which will provide tools of cooperation within the team and help disseminate the results of our research,
4) constitute a database on metaphysics of science.

Applicants must have a doctorate in philosophy. Knowledge of French is not required, but fluency in English is.

Salary will be approximately 2000 € net (2500 € gross) per month.

Application material:
-A cover letter addressed to Max Kistler, Metascience coordinator
-A CV with a list of publications
-A writing sample (e.g., a publication or a dissertation chapter)
-Three letters of recommendation
-A statement of research agenda that fits into one of the areas of the project (2-3 pages)

Applications should be submitted electronically, in a single PDF file, to:
Max Kistler: mkistler@univ-paris1.fr

Deadline for submission of application: 15 February 2013.
Candidates will be informed of the decision by 31 March 2013.

For further information, please contact Max Kistler.

Postdocs: Philosophy of Cosmology (Rutgers)

The School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University is pleased to announce the availability pending funding (to be determined soon) of three postdoctoral fellowships in philosophy of cosmology. Fellows will be appointed in the Department of Philosophy in association with the multi-university  Project in Philosophy of Cosmology.  We hope to appoint one fellow in each of the following areas of concentration: 1) philosophy of physics, 2) cosmology, 3) philosophy of religion, metaphysics or philosophical theology.  For more information about the kinds of research that could be supported under these fellowships, please see the summaries of current project members’ research interests and aims here: http://philocosmology.rutgers.edu/who-we-are.  

Requirements for the fellowship include i) PhD in the last 5 years in a relevant area, ii) acquaintance with recent developments in cosmology and issues in philosophy of cosmology, iii) a research project related to the research of the Philosophy of Cosmology Project, iv) strong background in one of the three fields mentioned above.

The primary responsibility of a Fellow will be to conduct research on his/her project.  Fellows will also be responsible for teaching one course per year in their area of expertise. Fellows will be expected to participate in all of our conferences, seminars, and a summer school in the summer of 2013; they will work with faculty mentors in the organization, planning, editing and the other aspects of our project.

Fellows will be appointed for one year with the possibility of renewal for a second year. Appointments will be effective September 1, 2012 or January 1, 2013. Fellows will receive a stipend of $50,000 annually as well as an annual research allocation of $2,000; they will also receive Rutgers University health benefits. 

Requests for more informantion or applications, consisting of a CV, a research proposal, a writing sample, and the names of 3 references should be sent by email to Professor Barry Loewer at loewer@rci.rutgers.edu.  Review of applications will commence on July 8 and continue until the positions are filled.

Rutgers University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. The institution values diversity in its faculty, staff, and students and especially encourages applications from women and underrepresented minorities.

Ruth Marcus Memorial Event (Yale, Sept 2012)

Students, colleagues, friends and admirers of Ruth are warmly invited to join us for a
CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE OF RUTH BARCAN MARCUS
Saturday afternoon, September 29th, 2012
Yale University Campus
New Haven, CT

Details of venue, time and program will be settled soon, and a more formal announcement will then be distributed.

Podcasts: Power Structuralism in Ancient Ontologies Project

I think that Anna Marmodoro's Power Structuralism in Ancient Ontologies project is one of the most interesting metaphysics projects around at the moment. And it got even more interesting now that they have added to their website links to a series of podcasts, which include:


Jon Jacobs: "Is Causation a Relation?"

Stephen Mumford: "Mutual Manifestation and Martin's Two Triangles"

James Ladyman: "Identity, Individuality and Discernibility"

Peter Van Inwagen: "Relational vs. Constituent Ontologies"

I look forward to listening to all of them!

Metaphysical Mayhem 2012!!!

This makes me wish I was still a grad student :-)

Metaphysical Mayhem is back!!! Rutgers University will be hosting a 5-day summer school for graduate students May 14-18, 2012. John Hawthorne, Katherine Hawley, Ted Sider, Jonathan Schaffer, and Dean Zimmerman will lead the seminars on a variety of topics in metaphysics, including: natural properties, composition as identity, grounding, metaphysical explanation, and stuff like that...

For more information, see:
http://fas-philosophy.rutgers.edu/mbenton/mayhem.html

Another Philosophy Jobs Site: PhilJobs

We had none, now we have two and they are both amazing!!! Open-access philosophy job listings, that is. Alongside Phylo Jobs (check out the new features, btw!), now we have PhilJobs (courtesy of David Bourget and David Chalmers).
The next step now is to replace first-round interviews at the Eastern with either Skype interviews or straight on campus interviews and the dysfunctional APA will have be made completely irrelevant.

New Philosophy Jobs Site!

Wonderful news for job seekers and search committees via The Philosophy Smoker:

Chris Sula and [David Morrow] have revamped the Phylo site to create an actual jobs board to (ahem) supplement the JFP. The URL is the same as the old wiki: http://phylo.info/jobs. As of today, we’ll start accepting job postings in that space from departmental representatives only. Following Harry Brighouse’s advice, we’ll also require a link to an external site (e.g., an announcement on the department’s web site) to verify each post’s authenticity. We’re moving the job wiki to http://phylo.info/jobs/wiki. People will still be able to post unofficial updates there. We’re still in the process of updating the wiki software to play nicely with the jobs board, but it will be up well before anyone needs to post status updates. In the meantime, watch the main jobs board to find out about job openings.

CFP: Society for Exact Philosophy Annual Conference

CFP: Society for Exact Philosophy Annual Conference
The 39th annual meeting of the Society for Exact Philosophy will be held at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. May 26-28, 2011. Conference organizers: Chris Tillman and Esa Diaz-Leon.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The Society for Exact Philosophy invites submissions for its 2011 meeting. Paper submissions in all areas of analytic philosophy are welcomed. A selection of papers from the conference will be published in a special volume of Synthese, guest edited by Marc Moffett. Keynote speakers to be announced.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: March 8th, 2011.

Submission Instructions

Authors are requested to submit their papers according to the following guidelines: 1) Papers should be prepared for blind refereeing, 2) put into PDF file format, and 3) sent as an email attachment to the address given below -- where 4) the subject line of the submission email should include the key-phrase "SEP submission", and 5) the body text of the email message should constitute a cover page for the submission by including i) return email address, ii) author's name, iii) affiliation, iv) paper title, and v) short abstract.

Electronic submissions should be sent to societyexactphilosophy2011@yahoo.ca

Nota Bene: All submissions will receive email confirmation of receipt. If your submission does not soon result in such an email confirmation, please send an inquiry either to the above address or to the local organizer.


More Information--

For more information on the conference, please visit the conference web site at: http://www.phil.ufl.edu/SEP/meeting/2011/
Or contact the conference organizers:

Chris Tillman chris.tillman@gmail.com
Esa Diaz-Leon esadiazleon@gmail.com

Information on the Society and its previous meetings is on the web at http://www.phil.ufl.edu/SEP.

"The SEP is dedicated to providing sustained discussion among researchers who believe that rigorous methods have a place in philosophical investigations."

CfP: Bellingham Summer Philosophy Conference 2011

The call for papers is here.

Call for Proposals: Experiment Month

The Experiment Month initiative is a program designed to help philosophers conduct experimental studies. If you are interested in running a study, you can send your study proposal to the Experiment Month staff. Then, if your proposal is selected for inclusion, we will conduct the study online, send you the results and help out with any statistical analysis you may need. All proposals are due Sept. 1.

For further information, see the Experiment Month website.