UW Philosophers Tackle Contemporary Issues

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1 College of Letters & Sciece UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON Philosophy Wiscosi style For Alumi ad Frieds of the Departmet of Philosophy Fall 2012 UW Philosophers Tackle Cotemporary Issues I the Uited States, poor kids fiish last. They are less likely to get ito college, ad eve if they do, most wo t graduate. What public uiversities ca, ad ought, to do about this persistet, growig iequality of opportuity was the subject of the most recet public lecture offered i a ew series sposored by the philosophy departmet: UW Philosophers Tackle Cotemporary Issues. Professor Harry Brighouse ackowledged up frot that UW Philosophers Tackle Cotemporary Issues Social Justice & Flagship Public Uiversities Wedesday October 17 Graiger Hall Room :00 pm Harry Brighouse Professor of Philosophy is lecture, Social Justice ad Flagship Public Uiversities, was ot a very cheerful story. But he wet o to poit out subtle, yet powerful ways i which professors ad higher-educatio admiistrators ca thik ad act differetly i order to smooth the path for all studets. O a raiy October ight, more tha 100 people, icludig commuity members helpig to prepare disadvataged youth for college, tured out to hear Brighouse speak about icome disparity ad its devastatig effects. This secod lecture i the series followed Professor Da Hausma s sprig talk o preferetial admissios at UW-Madiso. The idea behid the series is to share what philosophers do best deep thikig about social policies ad huma behavior with a broad public. It is the philosophy departmet s versio of the Wiscosi Idea i actio, said departmet chair Russ Shafer-Ladau. Brighouse thiks ad writes about school reform i the light of a egalitaria liberal theory of social justice for educatio. I his lecture, he portrayed icome disparity as a barrier to social mobility, educatioal achievemet, ad ultimately, a fulfillig life. He displayed stark graphs that icluded this statistic: of all poor studets who do make it to college, oly 6.3 percet graduate. College admiistrators ad professors, said Brighouse, have a resposibility to serve the less-advataged who eroll i istitutios of higher learig. Askig hard questios about departmetal missio, seekig feedback o classroom istructio, ad thikig broadly about all studets (istead of focusig o those who seem destied for academic careers) were all part of his formula. He also poited out the micro-decisios that professors make every day. Whom do you metor? How ofte do you draw out a studet who wats to explore somethig you kow othig about? Brighouse asked. I this udergraduate eviromet, we have some resposibility to preset ways of livig, to offer guidace through coversatio, ad through example. You ca see videos of series talks at com/site/philosophertackle/. Mary Elle Gabriel L&S Commuicatios Staff Writer

2 Notes from the Chair Greetigs from the Departmet of Philosophy! I m pleased to report that the departmet cotiues the upward trajectory that it has ejoyed over the past few years. We have three ew faculty ad are curretly searchig for a ew professor to joi our raks ext fall. All told, seve youger faculty members have bee hired sice With a record umber of majors i the departmet early 200 at last cout addig quality faculty is vital to maitaiig our program s stregth. Last year, we hosted three iteratioal cofereces that brought 250 philosophers from aroud the world to our campus. The presidet ad presidet-elect of the America Associatio of Philosophy Teachers selected our departmet as the first i the coutry to debut a iovative, o-campus pedagogy semiar for graduate studets. For the secod cosecutive year ad i a ever-competitive job market we ejoyed oe of the top five PhD placemet records i the coutry. I the latest atioal survey, the departmet was judged to be amog the best programs i the world i a variety of philosophical specializatios, icludig philosophy of biology, geeral philosophy of sciece, metaethics, applied ethics, philosophy of social sciece, ad early moder philosophy. I a importat ew veture, we developed a ew lecture series UW Philosophers Tackle Cotemporary Issues desiged to showcase our outstadig faculty ad share philosophy with the larger Madiso commuity. We cotiue to sustai a first-class colloquium series, with philosophers of iteratioal stature payig us visits throughout the academic year. For more iformatio about that series ad other departmet evets, be sure to have a look at our beautiful, ew website, philosophy.wisc.edu, which will keep you up-to-date o all the happeigs here o the fifth floor of Hele C. White. We are very grateful for our strog etwork of frieds ad alumi whose geerous support has made so may of our iitiatives possible. Stay i touch, be well, ad happy readig! Russ Shafer-Ladau, Chair shaferladau@wisc.edu Welcome to Vicki Schames (far right), who jois our amazig staff (from left to right): Patty Wispur, Lori Grat, ad Christy Horstmeyer. Collectively, they have served the departmet for 36 years ad the UW for 76! 2 PHILOSOPHY Wiscosi Style

3 Brigig Together Scholars from Across the World The ith aual Wiscosi Metaethics Workshop took place i September ad drew more tha 125 philosophers from aroud the world. The departmet also recetly hosted its bieial POBAM (Philosophy of Biology at Madiso) workshop, which has become the premier evet of its kid i the world. I additio, the Midwest Semiar i Early Moder Philosophy drew more tha 50 philosophers from may coutries, helpig to cemet the departmet s reputatio as oe of the premier places i the coutry to study early moder philosophy. Jim Aderso retired last year after 22 years of ivaluable service to the departmet. Jim will ow take up the role of full-time getlema farmer. We ll miss you, Jim! What Ca I Do with a Philosophy Degree? Have a look at the Alumi Updates o our departmet website ad fid out what more tha 200 of our graduates are doig. Please add your ow update it s easy! Go to: philosophy.wisc.edu Philosophy Wiscosi Style was prited usig gifts from alumi ad frieds. Departmet of Philosophy Uiversity of Wiscosi-Madiso 5185 Hele C. White Hall 600 North Park Street, Madiso, WI From the Dea s Desk I am delighted to write to you from the College of Letters & Sciece: the heart of UW-Madiso, where studets lear to make a good livig ad to lead a good life. Whe I thik of the cotributios that our departmets make to the state ad the world, I am remided why I have spet 30 of my happiest ad most rewardig years here. Educatio is at a crossroads. State support for the uiversity ow provides oly 15 percet of our aual budget. I have asked all departmets to carefully cosider iovatios that give us ew tools ad strategies for esurig a worldclass, 21st cetury educatio. The philosophy departmet has rise to this challege. I the last year, the departmet was selected by the America Associatio of Philosophy Teachers to debut a iovative, ocampus pedagogy semiar. Natioally recogized philosophy teachers guided UW graduate studets i a full day of traiig ad workshops to ehace their classroom skills. Ideed, alumi ad frieds should feel proud of the vibrat, egaged commuity of faculty, staff, studets, ad alumi, as well as the philosophy departmet s outstadig rakig amog peer istitutios. Where else but at UW-Madiso could you fid philosophy professors egagig with cotemporary issues i a excitig, ew series that s ope to the public? Ad, 2012 saw the reivigoratio of a popular udergraduate club, the Socratic Society, as well as a ewly formed Wome i Philosophy group. I ivite you to stay coected to your alma mater. I appreciate your feedback ad support, ad I wat to thak you for all that you do. O, Wiscosi! Gary Sadefur, Dea Chair: Russ Shafer-Ladau philosophy.wisc.edu (608)

4 Claudia Card has ot oly defied femiist theory, but she has also forged paths through the troubled forests of homophobia, ati-semitism, sexism, ad evirometal degradatio. Fearless Claudia Card Defies Femiism, Cofrots Evil I her forty-six years as a philosophy professor at UW-Madiso, Claudia Card has ot oly defied femiist theory, but she has also forged paths through the troubled forests of homophobia, ati-semitism, sexism, ad evirometal degradatio. Her recet lectures o torture, evil, ad iexcusable wrogs have become as popular as her 1980s talks o geder, moral luck, ad what lesbias do. Card has become such a forceful voice o the roots, maifestatios, ad legacies of evil that she was asked to address the U.S. Air Force Academy i Colorado this comig sprig o the topics of torture, terrorism, ad geocide. Fearless egagemet with difficult subjects has eared Card may accolades, but she was especially pleased to receive UW-Madiso s 2011 Hilldale Award for excellece i teachig, research ad service. Says Card: It feels like a reward for my whole career. The Emma Goldma (WARF) Professor of Philosophy bega her distiguished career as valedictoria of her seior class i Pardeeville, Wiscosi. Professor Card, how did growig up i Pardeeville shape you? My family is resposible for my early iterest i philosophy. My father ad his brother took courses at UW- Madiso with Max Otto i the 1930s. Also, I spet coutless hours i the Pardeeville Library. We had our 50th high school reuio i 2008, ad I ivited two of my teachers. You graduated from UW-Madiso with a BA i philosophy i 1962, ad retured to teach i How has the philosophy departmet chaged sice you studied here? Everythig has chaged. Class sizes have grow. May ew courses have bee added. There was oly oe woma i the graduate program whe I was here as a udergraduate. Your research ad writig wideed greatly over the years. How did you come to evil ad geocide, from sex/geder/femiism issues? I 1998, I realized that I had bee teachig about evils i may courses my whole career the evils of sexism, homophobia, ati-semitism, racism. So I decided it was time to address the cocept of evil i geeral. Besides the usual suspects (Kat, Schopehauer), what authors ca be foud o your bookshelf? Everythig by Joh Rawls, Joel Feiberg, ad H.L.A. Hart. Works by Mary Daly, Adriee Rich, Marily Frye, ad other radical femiists. Lots of Holocaust survivor arratives ad histories. Lots of works o evirometal ethics. What do the comig years hold, i terms of work ad life? I m at work o the third volume i what is turig out to be my trilogy o evil. I ited to keep teachig as log as I am able. 4 PHILOSOPHY Wiscosi Style

5 The Book Nook Over the past year, our faculty published the followig books to wide acclaim: Joh Begso, editor (with Mark Moffett), Kowig How: Essays o Kowledge, Mid, ad Actio (Oxford Uiversity Press) A excellet collectio from some exceptioal philosophers. There is somethig that is useful for all serious philosophers. Notre Dame Philosophy Reviews Larry Shapiro, Embodied Cogitio (Routledge) Embodied cogitio is sweepig the plaet, ad Larry Shapiro has just writte the first comprehesive treatmet. Uquestioably the best way for studets ad researchers alike to gai access to ad lear to evaluate this excitig, ew research paradigm i cogitive sciece. Fred Adams, Uiversity of Delaware Elliott Sober, Did Darwi Write the Origi Backwards? (Prometheus) Few philosophers of sciece commad the respect that Elliott Sober ejoys for the rigor of his ivestigatios ito the logic of evolutioary biology Accessible, lively, cotroversial. Joh Hedley Brooke, Uiversity of Oxford Malcolm Forster, editor (with Prasata S. Badyopadhyay), Philosophy of Statistics (Elsevier) Da Hausma, Preferece, Value, Choice, ad Welfare (Cambridge Uiversity Press) Not oly is Da Hausma a outstadig philosopher, but he also has a profoud uderstadig of ecoomics ad its fudametal cocepts. Julia LeGrad, Lodo School of Ecoomics [T]his [is a] subtle ad itelliget book... It is difficult to imagie a more covicig philosophical defese of what most ecoomists do. Robert Sugde, Uiversity of East Aglia Steve Nadler, A Book Forged i Hell: Spioza s Scadalous Treatise ad the Birth of the Secular Age (Priceto Uiversity Press) A delightfully lucid ad philosophically thorough accout. What makes Nadler s so welcome a cotributio is the care ad the clarity of his philosophical expositio, ad his restrait whe tracig the wider implicatios of Spioza s work. Peter Gordo, The New Republic Russ Shafer-Ladau, The Fudametals of Ethics, Secod Editio (Oxford Uiversity Press) A superb book: accessible, illumiatig, ad comprehesive. Niko Kolody, Uiversity of Califoria- Berkeley THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ETHICS 1 SECOND EDITION RUSS SHAFER-LANDAU philosophy.wisc.edu 5

6 New Faculty Profiles Emily Fletcher Assistat Professor Emily Fletcher comes to us thaks to the 2010 Adrew W. Mello Foudatio Core Humaities Grat. Emily just completed her PhD i classics at the Uiversity of Toroto. What are your research iterests? Aciet Greek ad Roma philosophy, as well as the broad cultural cotext of aciet philosophy. I the aciet world, may philosophers were also poets or scietists, politicias or practicig doctors, ad if we cosider the more geeral itellectual ad literary traditios from which they emerged, we ca illumiate their philosophical perspectives ad commitmets. What ca studets expect i the classroom? I expect my studets to work at least as hard as I do i the classroom, eve i a lecture settig. I like to experimet with differet forms of participatio (ad I m ope to ew ideas!). Your dissertatio was o Plato. If you could ask him oe questio, what would it be? Who was your greatest philosophical ispiratio ad why? It might seem like Socrates is the obvious aswer, give his promiece i the dialogues, but I thik it might be a toss-up betwee Socrates ad Aristotle. James Messia Assistat Professor James Messia comes to us thaks to fudig provided by the Madiso Iitiative for Udergraduates, which helps to ehace udergraduate advisig, reduce class sizes, ad bolster faculty umbers to improve the experiece for UW-Madiso s udergraduates. What are your research iterests? My research deals mostly with Immauel Kat s philosophy. I am particularly iterested i Kat s views o space, philosophical methodology, kowledge, ad the ature of reality. I also work o earlier Germa philosophers who had a strog ifluece o Kat (such as Leibiz, Wolff, ad Crusius) ad later Germa philosophers who were strogly iflueced by Kat (such as Reihold, Schulze, Fichte, ad Hegel). What ca studets expect i the classroom? Whe I am workig through a difficult argumet or distictio, I ca rarely cotai my (sometimes perverse) ethusiasm. This ofte ivolves gesticulatig wildly ad speakig a bit too loudly. I also thik discussio is really importat i a philosophy class. What do you do whe you re ot thikig about philosophy? I ejoy bike ridig, playig the bass guitar, readig classic ovels, ad listeig to Germa podcasts. Jesse Steiberg Faculty Associate ad Assistat to the Chair Jesse Steiberg comes to us from the Uiversity of Pittsburgh-Bradford, where he was a assistat professor ad the director of the evirometal studies program. He takes over the role that Jim Aderso occupied i the departmet for 22 years. Why are you excited to be at UW-Madiso? I m excited to be part of a stellar philosophy departmet with preemiet faculty who work i diverse sub-fields. I m also kee o workig with the folks i the Nelso Istitute for Evirometal Studies. What ca studets expect i the classroom? I ecourage my studets to thik critically ad to be egaged citizes. I tell some jokes (some of which are fuy) alog the way ad allow for plety of time to discuss the material. I short, I get my studets to do philosophy. If you could give your studets oe piece of advice, what would it be? Try to relish the opportuity. So few people get to atted such a outstadig school ad to live i such a beautiful place. It s crucial to savor every momet of it. 6 PHILOSOPHY Wiscosi Style

7 Gifts That Keep o Givig Thaks to gifts from alumi ad frieds, we ve made improvemets to ehace teachig ad learig for our studets ad future Badgers. Revivig the Socratic Society The departmet s udergraduate philosophy club, the aptly amed Socratic Society, has met weekly at the Rathskeller for more tha a year. Sessios have bee boisterous ad wellatteded. Gift fuds help provide pizza lots of it ad topics have raged from the meaig of life to the ature of cosciousess to the existece of free will. Lougig Aroud We ow have ew Apple computers as well as the prospect of lively coversatio i our ew udergraduate louge i Hele C. White Hall. We also refurbished the graduate studet louge, which ow icludes comfortable sofas ad beautiful plaques to record the ames of those who have wo departmetal awards. These facility improvemets help us to build a commuity of scholars ad give our studets a place to meet, lear, ad egage with each other. Make a Gift To mail a doatio to support the Departmet of Philosophy, iclude the fud umber ad desigatio (# /Philosophy) o your check. The check should be payable to the Uiversity of Wiscosi Foudatio. Please sed it to: UW Foudatio U.S. Bak Lockbox P.O. Box Milwaukee, WI To make a secure gift olie usig your credit card, please visit: go.wisc.edu/4dto6e. If you have ay questios or would like iformatio o other givig optios, please cotact A Lippicott at or a.lippicott@supportuw.org. Various importat gifts also helped us to fud: Evets of the ewly formed Wome i Philosophy group Substatial travel grats that eabled more tha 30 graduate studets to deliver papers at professioal cofereces across the coutry (ad i some cases, iteratioally) Stipeds for all first- ad secod-year graduate studets a especially importat elemet i attractig ad retaiig the best graduate cohort that we ca Our secod aual hoors ad awards baquet to celebrate those i the UW- Madiso philosophy commuity More tha $27,000 i awards, prizes, ad scholarships to our udergraduates ad graduate studets The geerous support of alumi ad frieds also uderwrites our speaker series ad iteratioal workshops, our ew UW Philosophers Tackle Cotemporary Issues program, the developmet ad maiteace of our website, the ewsletter you are ow readig, ad much more. Please cosider addig your support to ehacig the life of the departmet. Thak you! philosophy.wisc.edu 7

8 Noprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit #658 Madiso, WI Faculty Milestoes aula Gottlieb was elected as the Cetral P Divisio s represetative to the America Philosophical Associatio s (APA) board of officers. a Hausma was amed a Hilldale D professor ad wo the APA s Joseph B. Gittler Award, give aually to a work judged to be a outstadig cotributio to the philosophy of the social scieces. teve Nadler was amed the vice presidet S ad presidet-elect of the Cetral Divisio of the APA. arry Shapiro wo a UW-Madiso Kellett L Mid-Career Award, give each year to up to four outstadig humaities faculty across the College of Letters & Sciece. lliott Sober was elected presidet of E the Iteratioal Uio of the History ad Philosophy of Sciece Hele C. White Hall 600 North Park Street Madiso, WI 53706