GWU Philosophy Events 

Each year the Philosophy Department and Colonial Philosophy Club sponsor talks, lectures, debates, and informal gatherings.  These include the annual Elton and Thacher lectures, which are given by internationally recognized philosophers.  Details for each event will be posted on this page as they become available.

3rd Annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference:

Reason, Emotion, and the Mind:
Investigations in the Field of Cognitive Theory

Saturday April 16, 9:30 - 5:00
(Breakfast will be served at 9:00)
Marvin Center, room 402

Papers are invited from undergraduate students (at GW or elsewhere) in philosophy, psychology, linguistics, anthropology and related disciplines, and will be accepted until March 25. See this flyer for details, or contact Professor John Rudisill for more information.

2004-2005 Goutman Lecture:

"African Philosophy"

Lewis Gordon ,
Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy,
Temple University

Thursday March 10, 5:00
Marvin Center, room 305

2004-2005 Thacher Lecture
in Philosophy of Science and Logic:

"Why is There Still No Science of Memes?"

Sue Blackmore
author of The Meme Machine

Friday March 4, 4:00 - 6:00
(refreshments begin at 3:40)
Marvin Center, room 309

Abstract: Dawkins’s idea of memes as cultural replicators held out the promise of integrating the social sciences with the biological sciences. It provides new explanations for human uniqueness, including the origins of language and culture; it explains the evolutionary processes that are shaping the web and driving the information explosion today; and it has fascinating implications for how we live our lives and for free will and responsibility. Research on imitation, the essential skill for memetic evolution, has been flourishing, much of it backing up memetic theory. And several of the key predictions from memetics have been confirmed in fields as disparate as robotics, neuroscience and animal behaviour. Why then, nearly thirty years after Dawkins coined the word “meme” and five years after I wrote “The Meme Machine” is there no thriving science of memetics? Why is there still no print journal of memetics?
Perhaps the idea is just plain wrong. Perhaps it is nothing more than an empty analogy or a “meaningless metaphor”, or is untestable or circular, as some have claimed. Or perhaps memetics is really going on but under other names. Or could it be that people are just too frightened by the implications to take it seriously? I shall outline the basics of memetics, ponder this question, and explain why I remain incorrigibly optimistic about the explanatory power of the notion of memes.

2004-2005 Elton Lecture:

"Justice for Citizens with Disabilities:
Capabilities and the Social Contract"

Martha Nussbaum,
Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics,
Univeristy of Chicago Law School

Thursday October 14, 4:30 - 6:30
United Methodist Church, 1920 G St NW

Friday Brown-Bag Series

These talks are informal presentations of works-in-progress, usually followed by a substantial discussion period. Interested guests from other departments or institutions are welcome unless otherwise noted, and of course, you're encouraged to bring your lunch! All Brown-Bag talks are held in the Philosophy Department seminar room, Phillips 510. Sessions "officially" break up after one hour, though the room will usually be available for those who wish to continue the discussion.

Sep 10, 1:00: Alan Baker, "Are there genuine mathematical explanations of physical phenomena?"
Sep 17, 11:30: Lloyd Eby, "A new argument against utilitarianism"
Oct 8, 11:30: Jeffrey Brand-Ballard, "When may we treat like cases differently?"
Nov 5, 11:30: Michele Friend, "The next step for a structuralist philosophy of mathematics"

Feb 4, 12:00: Michael Boylan, "Agency and claims rights: the foundation of a theory of distributive justice"
Feb 11, 12:30: Thanassis Samaras, "The theory of the mixed constitution in the 4th century: Isocrates vs. Plato"
March 4, TBA: Ted Kinnaman, "Kant's nonfoundationalist grounding of reason"
**DELAYED**, new date TBA: Michele Friend, "The next step for structuralism" (Math dept. colloquium)
April 15, 4:00: Steve Hoeltzel, "What is 'absolute self-positing'? Pondering Fichte's first principles"

Café Philosophique

These are open discussions, organized by the Colonial Philosophy Club in conjunction with the Department, focusing on topics of general public interest. Faculty "guest hosts" speak briefly to introduce the issue and provide a bit of context, and then everyone is invited to join in a spirited conversation. Light refreshments are provided, and everyone in the community is welcome to attend. Suggested readings are made available, for anyone wishing to read up on the issue in advance. For details, contact the Department or the Philosophy Club.

Nov 17 : Democracy and constitutional liberalism, with comments by Professor Stephen Kelts
Feb 24: "Psycho-philosophical perspectives on happiness and well-being" - the first Meeting of the Minds, cosponsored by the Colonial Philosophy Club and Psi Chi, the Psychology honor society. 7:30 PM, Building GG rm 402. Plans will also be made for future events. Contact socrates@gwu.edu or psichi@gwu.edu for details.