In atentia doctoranzilor, cercetatorilor si cadrelor didactice din domeniul stiintelor socio-umane

In data de 13 martie 2009, ora 12:45, in sala 222, blocul de studii 4, USM, va avea loc prezentarea Programului de burse de cercetare in SUA "Carnegie Research Fellowship Program" pentru Republica Moldova in anul universitar 2009/2010.

Prezentarea Programului va fi facuta de catre Alexey Kharlamov, reprezentantul Programului Carnegie in Eurasia, in limba engleza/rusa (cu traducere in/din romana).

Evenimentul este organizat de catre Consiliile Americane pentru Invatamint International in colaborare cu USM.

Sunt invitati doctoranzii si cadrele didactice din domeniul stiintelor socio-umane, interesate in posibilitatea de a beneficia de un stagiu de cercetare de un semestru academic (patru luni) in institutiile de invatamint superior si de cercetare din SUA.



Sediul Consiliilor Americane pentru Invatamint International la Chisinau:
Strada Tricolorului 37B
MD-2012 Chisinau
Tel: 37322-225 860; 270 766
Fax: 37322-211 253
www.americancouncils.md

he latest issue of The Reasoner is now freely available for download

The latest issue of The Reasoner is now freely available for download in pdf format at
http://www.thereasoner.org/

Contents:

Editorial - Gabriella Pigozzi
Interview with John Woods - Gabriella Pigozzi
Internet, page ranking, and Sorites-like reasonings - Jean Paul Van Bendegem
Sentences and Propositions - Hartley Slater
Divine liars: a question - Martin Cooke
On Omnipotence: Second Thoughts - Alex Blum
Logical Relations between Sensation and Belief - Jeffrey Helzner
More Precisely: The Math You Need to Do Philosophy, Broadview Press - Eric Steinhart
Disability and Chronic Illness, 30 January - Havi Carel
Philosophy, Engineering and Technoethics, 6-8 February - Viorel Guliciuc
David Hilbert - Russell Marcus




The Reasoner (www.thereasoner.org) is a monthly digest highlighting exciting
new research on reasoning, inference and method broadly construed. It is interdisciplinary,
covering research in, e.g., philosophy, logic, AI, statistics, cognitive science,
law, psychology, mathematics and the sciences.

The Reasoner welcomes submissions:
- Submitted articles (100-1000 words)
- Submitted items of news
- Letters
- Conference announcements
- Job announcements
- Advertisements

If you would like to be alerted by email when an issue becomes available, please email
TheReasoner@kent.ac.uk with "SUBSCRIBE" as subject.

Jon Williamson, Editor
Federica Russo, Assistant Editor

Final Call for Papers: 'Rape and its Meaning/s'

Final Call for Papers: 'Rape and its Meaning/s'

Special edition of *Philosophical Papers*
Guest editor: Louise du Toit (University of Johannesburg)
Expected contributors include: Susan Brison, Ann Cahill, and Seriol Morgan.

The topic of rape has not received the kind of deep and sustained attention
from philosophers that it warrants. However, during the past three decades
the trickle of papers, book collections, and monographs has steadily
increased. Notable among these works are those written by women who were
victims of rape, including Susan Brison's "Aftermath: Violence and the
Remaking of a Self" (2002), which explores rape from the perspective of
someone who is both a victim and a professional philosopher. These latter
contributions-as well as others-are important in that they focus on the
meaning or meanings of rape.

The aim of this special issue of Philosophical Papers is to consider the
possible meanings of rape, and to better illuminate the damage of rape in
the light of such meanings. Discussions can approach the topic from any of a
range of angles, including the personal, political, legal, socio-symbolic,
literary, or religious. We are interested in any approach that clarifies the
significance of the phenomenon of rape.

Possible questions for discussion include:
--Should we seek for rape's meaning in the intentions of the rapist or in the
experiences of the victim, or in both?
--What types of damage does rape cause?
--To what extent does rape have political significance?
--Does rape have different meanings in different contexts or socio-political
dispensations? Does rape in war have different meanings from rape in peace
time?
--To what extent does the law determine rape's social meaning?
--What role does culture and religion play in the meaning of rape?
--Does the meaning of rape change when the victim is a child? When the victim
is male?
--What is the relationship between the meaning of rape and the meaning of sex?
--How does the absence of consent in rape relate to its meaning?

The deadline for receipt of submissions is 30 June 2009. This issue of
Philosophical Papers, comprising both invited and submitted articles, will
appear in November 2009.

Authors should submit manuscripts electronically, as a pdf- or word-document
attachment, to <Philosophical.Papers@ru.ac.za Philosophical.Papers@ru.ac.za>>. Authors must include their
full name, affiliation, and address for e-mail correspondence with their
submission.

Further enquiries may be addressed to Louise du Toit (louisedt@uj.ac.za louisedt@uj.ac.za>) or
Ward Jones, Editor, *Philosophical Papers* (w.jones@ru.ac.za w.jones@ru.ac.za>).

Call for Papers: Session on History of Cognitive Science

Call for Papers: Session on History of Cognitive Science

The XXIII International Congress of History of Science and Technology
will be held in Budapest between 28 July - 2 August, 2009. The
congress will have forty sessions and about one hundred symposia.

A special session of the congress will focus on the problems of history
of cognitive science and related topics. We invite original
contributions to the research on the broad field of cognitive science in the
context of history of interdisciplinarity.

The history of cognitive science has not yet attracted enough the
attention of professional historians of science. The two most accepted
texts on the subject (H. Gardner.s .The Mind.s New Science. (1985) and M.
Boden.s .Mind as Machine. (2006)) are done by insiders whose
stories, although providing invaluable first-hand information, are
inevitably framed by their authors. personal attitudes and academic
preferences.

The aim of the session is to bring together cognitive scientists,
historians, philosophers and sociologists of science who are
interested in re-thinking and filling out the insiders. stories by
discussing the key issues in the half-century history of cognitive
science in a broader historical, philosophical and social context.

Informative and/or critical papers related to any aspect of the history
or pre-history of cognitive science are welcome but priority
will be given to texts which focus on the roots, the unfolding and the
results (especially the added value, if any) of the cognitive
interdisciplinary project, viewed as a part of the larger context of
history of interdisciplinarity.

If you are interested in the participation please visit the web site of
the congress (note that the real deadline for abstract
submission will be 6 March) and contact one of the session organizers.

The web site:

http://www.conferences.hu/ichst09/invitation.htm

We plan to publish a book based on the presented papers.


Kind regards,

The Organizers:

Lilia Gurova: lgurova@nbu.bg
and
Laszlo Ropolyi: ropolyi@elte.hu

15th International Philosophy Colloquium Evian Conditions of Freedom

Call for papers

15th International Philosophy Colloquium Evian
Conditions of Freedom

Evian (Lake Geneva), France
July 12-18, 2009

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Georg W. Bertram
Freie Universitaet Berlin, Institut für Philosophie, Habelschwerdter Allee
30, D-14195 Berlin, Germany

Call for Papers:
We invite proposals for presentations (maximum length: one page), along with
a short CV (maximum length: two pages), by April 1st, 2009. Please send
these documents via e-mail to the following address:
evian@philosophie.fu-berlin.de

A detailed exposition of the topic and all relevant information concerning
the character and history of the colloquium as well as matters of
accomodation and costs can be found on our website:
http://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/eviancolloquium/

The idea of freedom stands at the center of practical philosophy, embedded
in a thick web of relations with concepts such as subjectivity, rationality,
morality, and existence. It draws its force from the tension between two
roles: on the one hand as a fundamental metaphysical or anthropological
determination of human beings; on the other as designating a political ideal
that can more or less be realized or fail to be realized in concrete forms
of life. Rousseau's opening flourish in The Social Contract, "Man is born
free, yet everywhere he is in chains," underlines this tension. In this
sense the idea of freedom stands not only practically but also conceptually
under complex conditions, which need to be understood in order to grasp what
we really mean by "freedom."

The Fifteenth International Philosophy Colloquium Evian invites philosophers
to Lake Geneva to discuss issues concerning the conditions of freedom. It
aims especially to encourage its participants to transcend the narrow
confines of different traditions in philosophy. It is conceived particularly
as a place where the divide between continental and analytic philosophy is
overcome, or at least where their differences can be rendered
philosophically productive. The passive mastery of French, German, and
English (the three languages of discussion of the colloquium) is an
indispensable prerequisite for its participants.

Organisation: Georg W. Bertram (Berlin), Robin Celikates (Bremen), David
Lauer (Berlin); in cooperation with: Karin de Boer (Groningen), Karen
Feldman (Berkeley), Jo-Jo Koo (Pittsburgh), Christophe Laudou (Madrid),
Jérôme Lèbre (Paris), Diane Perpich (Clemson), Hans Bernhard Schmid (Basel),
Chris Doude van Troostvijk (Strasbourg/Amsterdam)

The Top 50 Philosophy Blogs

The Top 50 Philosophy Blogs

Philosophy is the examination of eternal problems, therefore you might not expect some of the best philosophy literature to be popping up on what, relatively speaking, is a relatively new medium, blogs. However, the freedom of form and the ability to get one’s thoughts out quickly to a ready audience has attracted some excellent philosophers to produce blogs of their own. To help you navigate the plethora of philosophy blogs we’ve selected what we consider to be the top 50 philosophy blogs on the web today and listed them below.

The top 50 philosophy blog list we’ve compiled includes blogs written by professional philosophers, graduate students, and undergraduate philosophy majors. It also includes joint blogs written by members of a particular philosophy department, organization, or a group of philosophers who focus their blog entries in a particular area of philosophy. We have categorized them by the eight major branches: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, Political Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Language, and Philosophy of Mind.

Metaphysics

This is the investigation of the nature of being and the world. Traditional branches are cosmology and ontology.

1. Metaphysical Blog A blog community focused on metaphysics. Learn about everything from the theory of ascension to crystal balls.

2. The Reference Frame Covers the most important events in our universe. This blog is written from a conservative physicists’’ standpoint.

3. Creative Advance Devoted to discussing the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. Whitehead believed that creativity is the supreme metaphysical principle enticing the universe into novelty.

4. BackReaction Commentary on events in the world from two theoretical physicists. A scientifically minded blog with various amounts of entertainment, distractions, and every day tid bits.

5. One Cosmos A blog filled with humorous revelations from a clinical psychologist. Read about his opinions and thoughts on subjects such as Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

6. Narrative and Ontology Relate Scripture to the Church in an intelligent and engaging fashion. This PhD student blogger is actually using this towards his doctorate.

7. Nonduality in Thought and Practice Intended to be a collection of thoughts on various issues that either have been presented by readers, or that are of particular concern. The focus is on a non-dual understanding of reality as the pure presence of Awareness, and all philosophical or metaphysical considerations involved in reaching such an understanding.

Epistemology

Centers on the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible. Its central concerns have been the challenges brought on by skepticism and the relationships between truth, belief, and justification.

8. A brood comb Offers philosophical notes on a number of topics. Posts are about making sense of things, understanding them, and trying to make oneself at home in the world.

9. All Embracing But Underwhelming… This blogs focus is about the philosophy around, above, and about conspiracy theories. This PhD Student has written several papers on this subject.

10. The Space of Reasons Discussions on Epistemology and the philosophy of mind. Read humorous takes on non- existence and famous non-entities such as unicorns and Bigfoot.

11. Alienation News Get updates on the latest topics and news in philosophy. This blog talks about it all; epistemology, philosophy, discovery, and more.

12. Epistemic Value Written by an established Professor of Philosophy located in the UK. He has written several books on epistemology and focuses on issues such as the problem of skepticism, the epistemic externalism/internalism distinction and the rationality of religious belief.

13 Knowability These posts are devoted to issues that are modal epistemic. Gain knowledge from a professor of philosophy at Saint Louis University.

Ethics or “Moral Philosophy”

Deals with questions of how persons ought to act or if such questions are answerable. Ethics is also associated with the idea of morality. Plato’s early dialogues include a search for definitions of virtue.

14. Moral Philosophy and Current Events This blog discusses the use of traditional reasoning as it applies to current events today. Its main objective is to return to the wisdom used by many great ancient civilizations.

15. PEA Soup Designed to provide a forum for discussing philosophy, ethics, and academia. Their priority is to go beyond geographical barriers so that moral philosophers from across the globe can communicate the way they would with nearby colleagues.

16. Alexander Pruss’s Blog Written by a philosophy student at Baylor University. This blog gives you an inside view of practical moral philosophy from a younger standpoint.

17. JanusBlog For philosophers exploring doorways such as those between ethical and intellectual excellence, reliability and personal responsibility, knowledge and action, and naturalism and normatively.

18. Morality and the Good Life This is a blog with a focus on current moral philosophies. This philosophy professor discusses current events and how they relate to moral ethics.

19. In Living Color A philosophy instructor and writer discusses ethics and the good life. Animal’s rights, religion, books, and parenthood are just some of her subjects.

20. Adventures in Ethics and Science A philosopher of science’s musings on responsible conduct of scientific research, communication between scientists and non-scientists about the issues that matter to both camps, and teaching science and ethics.

Political Philosophy

The study of government and the relationship of individuals and communities to the state. It includes questions about justice, the good, law, property, and the rights and obligations of citizens.

21. Jacob T. Levy Jacob T. Levy is a Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Political Science at McGill University. His focuses of discussion are multiculturalism and nationalism; federalism; the rights of indigenous peoples and constitutional theory.

22. JustWarTheory.com An editorial blog on philosophical studies of warfare. The articles attempt to distinguish between justifiable and unjustifiable uses of organized armed forces.

23. P.A.P. Blog This blog is about politics, art, and philosophy. That’s why it’s called P.A.P. Blog. Art and philosophy are discussed to an extent that encompasses most if not all important political topics.

24. Obsidian Wings A multiblog written by a professor of philosophy, several lawyers, and a political ethics student. You get several thoughts and insights on political issues around the world.

25. Public Reason The purpose of the blog is to provide an open forum for the academic political philosophy and theory community to discuss our common work. Contributions from women, members of historically under-represented groups, and academics from non-Anglophone countries are especially welcomed.

26. Philosophy Etcetera Here you’ll find discussion of analytic philosophy, politics, ethics, religion, and other items of intellectual interest.

Aesthetics

This philosophy deals with beauty, art, enjoyment, sensory-emotional values, perception, and matters of taste and sentiment.

27. deleuze at greenwich The online home of Volcanic Lines deleuzian research group which is based in the philosophy department of the University of Greenwich, London. The site exists to provide information about the research group’s aims and activities.

28. Virtual Philosopher Reflects the writers’ interests in philosophy, critical thinking, art and photography. It includes thoughts, interviews, book reviews, and links.

29. Talking Philosophy This is the blog of TPM - The Philosophers’ Magazine. Posts are quality philosophy in a readable format for readers both within and outside academe.

30. Theological Aesthetics Offers a fascinating insight behind the scenes and into the minds that create the work, what inspires it and what it means. Articles show the relationship between theology and aesthetics.

Logic

Studies patterns of thinking that lead from true premises to true conclusions, originally developed in Ancient Greece. Beginning in the late 19th century, mathematicians such as Frege focused on a mathematical treatment of logic. Today the subject of logic has two broad divisions: mathematical logic (formal symbolic logic) and what is now called philosophical logic.

31. Logic Matters Blog on logic, philosophy of mathematics, and other matters by a Cambridge University lecturer. Read some of his reflections and obviously skeptical thoughts.

32. Nothing of Consequence Written by a member of Arche, a philosophical research centre in the world dedicated to the core areas of logic, language and mathematics. These posts focus on the philosophy of logic, philosophy of mathematics and logic proper.

33. Viking Math A group mathematics blog started by a crew of Portland State Mathematics students and Alumni. Find posting on all sorts of levels of mathematics.

34. Enigmania Answer the puzzles to the virtue of paradox through the philosophy of mathematics. Blogs are posted frequently and categorized by subject, alphabetically, and by areas of interest.

35. LogBlog From a professor of philosophy at the University of Calgary. Posts provide insights on logic, philosophy and anything else that enters his mind.

36. Obscure and Confused Ideas Perspectives on philosophy of science, its history, and related issues in logic. These articles are written by an outspoken graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh.

Philosophy of Language

The reasoned inquiry into the nature, origins, and usage of language.

37. Business Affairs Periodic essays on topics in cognitive science, language and religion. All from an analytic philosophy perspective.

38. Lemmings Very in-depth information from a female Associate Professor of Philosophy. This blog is devoted to issues in language, epistemology, metaphysics, and mind.

39. Conceptual Origami This blog is mostly concerned with bioinformatics, emergent semantics, philosophy of language, and user experience (UX) exploration. It was created to encourage inter-disciplinary studies.

40. logicandlanguage.net From a learned professor at Washington University in St. Louis comes this weblog in logic and the philosophy of language.

41. Buffalo Philosophy A multi blog by graduate students of the State University of New York, University at Buffalo. This blog is concerned with philosophy of language, ethics and epistemology.

42. Language Log A variety of posts from different authors on aspects of the philosophy of language. Their main focus is on cognitive skills and how they relate to language used today.

43. Methods of Projection This blog is dedicated to the great philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. His influences have been felt in nearly every field of the humanities and social sciences. There are widely diverging interpretations of his thought on language.

Philosophy of Mind

The nature of the mind and its relationship to the body, and is typified by disputes between dualism and materialism. In recent years there is an increasing connection between this branch of philosophy and cognitive science.

44. Brain Pains A group blog dedicated to discussing the philosophy of mind and related issues. It aims to be a forum for the discussion of recent academic work in the field, as well as a place to present ideas that connect with and initiate discussion in the philosophy of mind.

45. Conscious Entities These pages are devoted to short discussions of some of the major thinkers and theories about consciousness. The issues are argued and sometimes clarified on this blog.

46. thinkBuddha Reflections upon philosophy and Buddhist thought and practice. rooted on the one hand in Western philosophical traditions and on the other hand in an approach to Buddhist practice.

47. Pain for Philosophers A philosopher working on issues involving pain that requires knowing quite a bit about what pains are. This blog keeps up with the pain science literature, and collects excerpts of articles relevant to philosophy of mind, philosophical psychology, cognitive science, value-theory, and applied ethics.

48. Philosophy Blog Finishing his PhD dissertation in philosophy at Arizona State University, this professor has a number of opinions on cognitive recognitions and other topics related to the mind.

49. Anderson Brown’s Philosophy Blog A engaged philosophy professor’s notes with emphasis on philosophy of mind. Other topics include metaphysics, ancient Greek philosophy, Buddhism, and Wittgenstein.

50. The Splintered Mind Writings on the topics of philosophy of psychology and also interesting stuff on how ethical thought affects behavior. Topic are introduced in a clear way and sometimes broadly construed.

The revival of Philosophy in American Colleges has increased by fifty to seventy­­-five percent in the past five years. Meanwhile, all seem to agree that philosophical thinking is not simply for “fancy shmansy” intellectuals anymore.

The Postgraduate Journal of Aesthetics invites submissions of papers

The Postgraduate Journal of Aesthetics invites submissions of papers from
postgraduate students for its Spring 2009 issue. Papers may be on any subject
within the area of philosophical aesthetics and philosophy of art, and should
be no longer than 3000 words. Please send papers prepared for blind review and
in rich text format to

pgjeditor@british-aesthetics.org

including a covering letter with your university affiliation and contact
details.

For more information about the Postgraduate Journal of Aesthetics, and
to view the current issue, which includes a contribution from Professor Michael
Morris of Sussex University, please see the following link:

http://www.british-aesthetics.org/postgradjournalofaestheticsonline.aspx