Philosophy

The topic of the workshop is the treatment of two soul-powers by Alexander of Aphrodisias, the most important Peripatetic philosopher and commentator of antiquity, in his work De anima (On the Soul): namely the desiring soul (De anima pp. 71–80) and the thinking (rational) part of the soul (De anima pp. 80–94). In both cases, the workshop will aim at an in-depth reading and discussion of Alexander's complex argumentation, and to connect Alexander's accounts about the soul to his metaphysical and epistemological discussions and to his theory of action.

In this talk, I will first outline and defend an argument against the existence of moral responsibility. I will then show that this argument enables us to defend a Rawlsian version of egalitarianism, according to which justice permits inequalities only if they make the worst off members of society better off than they would otherwise be. I will end by outlining the practical implications of my defence of this view.

The CEU-Rutgers MIND Workshop, a common initiative of both institutions’ departments of philosophy, is meant as the first in a series of annual events, alternating between CEU and Rutgers. Building on the shared and complementing strengths of both institutions, it will provide our faculty and students working on the philosophy of mind with an opportunity to present and discuss their recent research in the area. The workshops will also include presentations by people from Cognitive Science with relevant work.

In this paper, I assess recent claims in philosophy of science about scientific perspectivism being compatible with realism. I clarify the rationale for perspectival realism and the challenges it faces in striking a middle ground in between realism and epistemic pluralism. I focus on how knowledge claims can be regarded as true across different scientific perspectives, and I propose a new way of thinking about truth across scientific perspectives that in my view can deliver on the promise of realism while also being sensitive to epistemic pluralism.

9th In-House Philosophy Graduate Conference

The purpose of the event is to give students the chance to present and discuss their research and learn about each other's work. It also provides us with the perfect opportunity to welcome our new students.