Birkbeck College LondonPhilosophy Society
Birkbeck College London
Click here for the 2002/2003 Programme
Click here for a PDF File of the Society Programme
Click here for Archive of Term 1 Speakers
Click here for Archive of Term 2 Speakers
Click here for Archive of Term 3 Speakers
Email Discussion Group ... Aitia ... Meeting Arrangements ... Aims of the Society ... Joining the Society ... Officers
WHAT'S ON
Our Programme of speakers for 2002-3 is now over. The Committee for 2003-4 has been busy putting together a programme. This website will be relaunched shortly at http://www.philosophybbk.co.uk with details of the forthcoming programme. Here's the President's Report for the season just completed.
In all, we have enjoyed a very full programme of 23 speakers, together with the usual parties (though no Student Debate this season). Click on the link for the 2002/2003 Programme. It's now too late to join the Society for the current academic year, but for next year, print off the attached Application Form and send it in as instructed on the form.
AITIA
The Society Magazine, Aitia, has been assembled from contributions received. Thanks to those of you who've come forward. The magazine will be published shortly.WHEN AND WHERE WE MEET
Meetings in term 3 were on Tuesdays at 20:00 (- 21:30) in the College Lecture Theatre, 3rd Floor, Birkbeck Main Building, Malet St. Meetings in terms 1 & 2 commenced half an hour later. The format is at the speaker's discretion, but is usually one hour of lecture followed by 30 minutes of questions. See the map on the following link if you don't know how to get there. Nearest tubes are Tottenham Court Road, Goodge St., Russell Square, Euston ... Entry was £2 for non-members (£1 for members). Entry for the year 2003-2004 will be £3 for non-members (£1 for members).
AIMS OF THE SOCIETY
The Birkbeck Philosophy Society exists to promote the interests of its members. We do this by :-
JOINING THE SOCIETY
For further information, you can contact the Society at philosocbbk@yahoo.co.uk.Society Officers (2002/3)
Theo Todman, President / Webmaster
John Baker, Treasurer
Jason Davis, Secretary
Lorraine Rogers, Special Events Organiser
Giacinto Palmieri, Editor of Aitia
ARCHIVE - SPEAKERS IN TERM 3
Our first speaker for Term 3 was Dr. Catriona McKinnon, Lecturer, Department of Political Philosophy, University of York, who spoke on Tuesday 29th April on the subject of "Cosmopolitan Hope". Dr. McKinnon's website is http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/poli/staff/subjects#pp.
Our second speaker for Term 3 was Dr. Fraser MacBride, Lecturer in the Department of Logic & Metaphysics, University of St. Andrews, who spoke on Tuesday 6th May on the subject of "Structuralism Reconsidered" in the Philosophy of Mathematics. Fraser's website is http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/academic/philosophy/STAFF/macbride.html.
Our third speaker for Term 3, and maybe our most distinguished of the year, was Prof. Alasdair MacIntyre, Professor of Philosophy and Permanent Senior Research Fellow, University of Notre Dame, who spoke on Tuesday 13th May on the subject of "Aquinas and the Facts of Moral Disagreement". This was a great opportunity to hear Prof. MacIntyre, and there was, thankfully, a good turn-out. Those who don't know Prof. MacIntyre's work can look him up on his website http://www.nd.edu/~ndethics/People/Advisory%20Board/MacIntyre.htm.
Our penultimate speaker for Term 3 was Dr. Martin Kusch, Reader in History & Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University and former Fellow of King's College Cambridge, who spoke on Tuesday 20th May on the subject of "Dispositions and Meaning: Defending Kripke's Wittgenstein". Martin's website is http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/dept/kusch.html.
Our final speaker for this academic year was Prof. Alan Millar, Professor of Philosophy, University of Stirling, who spoke on Tuesday 27th May on the subject of "The Explanatory Role of Normative Considerations". You can look Alan up on his website http://www.stir.ac.uk/departments/arts/philosophy/staff/alan_millar.htm.
ARCHIVE - SPEAKERS IN TERM 2
Our first speaker for 2003 was Dr. Sabina Lovibond, Lecturer in Philosophy, Worcester College, Oxford, who spoke on Tuesday 14th January on the subject of "Contemplation and the Source of Value". Here's the handout.
Our second speaker for 2003 was Dr. Kathleen Lennon, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Hull University, who spoke on Tuesday 21st January on the subject of "Body Image and Bodily Imaginaries".
Our third speaker for 2003 was Dr. Francois Recanati, Director of Research at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and a member of Institut Jean Nicod, Paris, who spoke on Tuesday 28th January on the subject of "Literalism versus Contextualism".
Prof. Jonathan Dancy, Professor of Philosophy, University of Reading, spoke on Tuesday 4th February on the question of "What do Reasons Do?".
Our next speaker was Dr. Nick Bostrom, Research Fellow in Philosophy at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, who spoke on Tuesday 11th February on the particularly interesting and accessible question of "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?". You can look up the full text of his talk on the dedicated website www.simulation-argument.com. You can also find out more about Dr. Bostrom on his website www.nickbostrom.com.
Professor Dan Sperber, Professor of Philosophy, Institut Nicod, Paris, spoke on Tuesday 25th February on the subject of "Seedless grapes: Nature and culture. You can look him up on his website http://www.dan.sperber.com/.
Dr. Hallvard Lillehammer, Fellow of King's College Cambridge, spoke on Tuesday 4th March on the subject of "Morality as make-believe". More information about Dr. Lillehammer, together with a recent paper, is on his website http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/Lillehammer/.
Dr. Jennifer Saul, spoke on Tuesday 11th March on the unusual subject of "On treating things as people: objectification, pornography, and the history of the vibrator". Dr. Saul is Director of Postgraduate Studies, University of Sheffield - you can look her up on her website http://www.shef.ac.uk/~phil/staff/saul/. This week's paper is described therein as "work in progress" and the website informs us (admittedly in another context) of "Jenny's ongoing project of lowering the tone of the philosophical literature as much as possible".
Prof. Hugh Mellor, spoke on Tuesday 18th March on the subject of "What Does Decision Theory Tell Us?", a draft of a paper to be presented at a forthcoming conference on Frank Ramsey. Prof. Mellor is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Darwin College, Cambridge. His website is http://www.dar.cam.ac.uk/~dhm11/.
Our final speaker of Term 2 was Dr. Anita Avramides, who spoke on Tuesday 25th March on the subject of "Knowledge Externalism and the Problem of Other Minds". Dr. Avramides is Lecturer in Philosophy, St. Hilda's College Oxford - you can look her up on her website http://www.sthildas.ox.ac.uk/information/acstaff/philosophy.htm.
ARCHIVE - SPEAKERS IN TERM 1
The new season began on Tuesday 15th October, with our first speaker - Professor Stephen Neale of Rutgers University, New Jersey. His subject was "What do we want from a theory of interpretation?". Here's the advertising poster. An abstract will be posted on the website in due course.
We continued on Tuesday 22nd October, with our second speaker - Professor Jonathan Wolff of University College London. His subject was "Which Disadvantages Matter?". Here's the advertising poster.
Our third speaker of the season was Professor Paul Horwich of City University New York. Professor Horwich spoke on Tuesday 29th October on the subject of The Value of Truth.
As a departure from precedent, we had a speaker during Reading Week. Professor Crispin Wright, Professor of Logic and Metaphysics and Wardlaw Professor at the University of St. Andrews, and a regular Visiting Professor at Columbia University, New York, spoke on Tuesday 5th November, on the subject of "Warrant for Nothing".
Dr. Sophie Botros, a Fellow of Birkbeck, spoke on Tuesday 19th November, on the subject of ""Beliefs Aim at Truth, Desires at their own Realization": genesis of a philosophical problem". Here's the handout.
Professor Ted Honderich, Grote Professor Emeritus, University College London, spoke on Tuesday 26th November on the subject of his latest book, his title being "After the Terror: A Book and Further Thoughts". On account of the firemen's dispute, the meeting had to close while the questions were still in full flow. As a consequence, Professor Honderich has kindly agreed to join our email discussion group for a while so the discussion can continue. Those who weren't at the meeting might like to consult the attached handout, and extensive paper, before asking questions! Details of the email discussion group were given above.
Our penultimate speaker for the term was Professor Anthony Savile, on Tuesday 3rd December on the subject of "What drove Kant over the edge". Professor Savile is Professor of Philosophy, King's College London.
Our final speaker for 2002 was Dr. Veronique Munoz-Darde, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University College London, who spoke on Tuesday 10th December on the subject of "Balancing Claims: Reasons and saving the greater number".
