From arts.cave at mq.edu.au Mon Mar 27 11:43:13 2017 From: arts.cave at mq.edu.au (Centre for Agency, Values, and Ethics) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2017 00:43:13 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] CAVE Seminar: Verina Wild, "Just a little stitch? The ethics of hymen reconstruction", Thurs 30 March, Macquarie University Message-ID: Hi all, The Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values, and Ethics (CAVE) and the Macquarie Anthropology Department are pleased to be co-hosting a seminar by Dr. Verina Wild (LMU) this Thursday. "Just a little stitch? The ethics of hymen reconstruction" by Verina Wild (LMU) Date: Thursday 30 March 2017 Time: 10:30 - 12:30 Venue: W6A 107, Macquarie University (P12 on campus map) All welcome, no registration required! Abstract: Hymen reconstruction surgery purporting to ?restore virginity? is now available in many countries. Little clinical evidence supports the intervention, for which there are no surgical standards of practice and hardly any policy guidance. Nearly as scarce is social science research exploring women?s motivations to undergo the intervention, and health care professionals? justifications for providing it. The intervention and the role of health care professionals are ethically controversial, for example: Are physicians becoming accomplices of unjust social norms? Can this really be regarded as an autonomously chosen surgery? Is there a moral obligation for health care professionals to help vulnerable women in order to prevent further harm? Is there a moral obligation for health care professionals to help women pursue their future life plans by expanding spaces of autonomy? Which meaning do concepts such as ?justice?, ?autonomy? or ?vulnerability? have in this case? Together with a research team we have conducted interviews in Tunisia, trying to find out more about the stories of people involved in hymen reconstruction. Other interviews and data analysis of online requests for hymen reconstruction were undertaken in Germany and Switzerland. In this paper I present selected empirical results. I will develop first steps of an ethical analysis that takes historical and socio-cultural aspects into account and that includes the voices of women who have undergone the surgery. The complexity of the ethical dimension will become obvious, impacting on potential attempts to develop policy. About the speaker: Dr. Verina Wild is Senior Researcher at the Department of Philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU), Germany and Affiliate Researcher at the Institute of Ethics, History and Theory, LMU. She held a position as Senior Teaching and Research Associate from 2008-2016 at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine at the University of Zurich. Before that she was a physician in internal medicine in Berlin, Germany. Her current research interests are theories of health justice; health of migrants and ethics; gender justice in health; and methods in ethical decision-making. Since 2009 she is engaged in her project on ?Ethics of Hymen Reconstruction?, for which she conducted interviews in Tunisia, Germany and Switzerland. Kelly Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics (CAVE) Department of Philosophy Macquarie University Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia CAVE website: mq.edu.au/cave www.facebook.com/MQCAVE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From h.ikaheimo at unsw.edu.au Mon Mar 27 19:57:45 2017 From: h.ikaheimo at unsw.edu.au (Heikki Ikaheimo) Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2017 08:57:45 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Simon Keller at the UNSW Philosophy Seminar | Tuesday 4 April | 2:00- 3:30pm | Morven Brown 310 In-Reply-To: References: , Message-ID: Invitation to Philosophy Seminar [ostgraduate Welcome Event] Invitation The School of Humanities and Languages invites all interested staff and students to this Philosophy seminar by Professor Simon Keller form Victoria University Wellington. A Right to Mental Health Abstract: There are good reasons to think that health is a concern of distributive justice, and, to that extent, that we have a right to good health. Should we say the same about mental health? Again, there are good reasons to think that we should. Mental health plays a large role in determining individuals? quality of life; and mental health is partly socially determined, with mental health outcomes strongly related to patterns of poverty and forms of discrimination. But if we have a right to mental health, in the relevant sense, then many standing accounts of mental health cannot be correct. For example, accounts that identify mental health with well-being cannot be right, if mental health is something with which government ought to take a direct concern. A better approach is to begin with the significance of mental health for distributive justice, and then explain what mental health needs to be in order to fulfill its political role. Following this approach, I argue, we can come up with an account of mental health that explains why mental health is valuable, and is plausible on its own terms. Simon Keller is Professor at the School of History, Philosophy, Political Science & International Relations at Victoria University Welligton. He works in ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics and the history of philosophy. His publications include the monographs The Limits of Loyality (Cambridge University Press 2007) and Partiality (Princeton University Press, 2013), as well as the co-authored book with John Kleinig and Igor Primoratz The Ethics of Patriotism: A Debate (Wiley Blackwell 2015). He is currently working on a book on the idea of mental health. For more information about Simon Keller?s work, see: http://www.simonkeller.co.nz/ [cid:image002.jpg at 01D2A712.DB8DF810] Event Details Tuesday 4 April, 2017 2:00pm ? 3:30pm Morven Brown building room 310 (C20) Contact: Heikki Ikaheimo e: h.ikaheimo at unsw.edu.au t: (02) 9385 2373 [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/outline-dark-twitter-48.png] [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/outline-dark-facebook-48.png] [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/outline-dark-link-48.png] [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/outline-dark-youtube-48.png] Copyright ? 2017 UNSW Arts and Social Sciences, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: UNSW Arts & Social Sciences UNSW Australia UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052 Australia Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image002.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 4206 bytes Desc: image002.jpg URL: From calendar-notification at google.com Tue Mar 28 13:00:02 2017 From: calendar-notification at google.com (Google Calendar) Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2017 02:00:02 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Notification: Karyn Lai @ Wed 29 Mar 2017 13:00 - 14:30 (Seminars) Message-ID: <001a113ad986649b13054bc0d126@google.com> This is a notification for: Title: Karyn Lai Moral Philosophy and Confucius? Analects I consider a fundamental question in Confucian scholarship: how do we understand ethics in Confucius? Analects? Immanuel Kant commented that ?Philosophy is not to be found in the whole Orient...Their teacher Confucius teaches in his writings nothing outside a moral doctrine designed for the princes...and offers examples of former Chinese princes...But a concept of virtue and morality never entered the heads of the Chinese. In order to arrive at an idea...of the good [certain] studies would be required, of which [the Chinese] know nothing? (Helmuth von Glasenapp, Kant und die Religionen des Osten, Kitzingen-Main: Holzner verlag, 1954, pp. 105-106, trans. Julia Ching in ?Chinese Ethics and Kant,? Philosophy East and West 28.2: 161-172). More recently, comparative philosophers have presented Confucian ethics through the prism of ethical frameworks in Western philosophy including, for example, consequentialist or virtue ethics. I suggest a novel way of reading the Analects: that Confucius? words should be read non-prescriptively, which has the effect of liberating modern readers from their normative grip. Importantly, this approach to the ancient Chinese text paves the way for a more fruitful engagement with it, allowing us to use it to enhance our own moral learning. When: Wed 29 Mar 2017 13:00 ? 14:30 Eastern Time - Melbourne, Sydney Calendar: Seminars Who: * Sam Shpall- creator Event details: https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=NmE5cWg5azNxa29hbGhqODM2ZXF2bDA5ZGMgMm1lN2M3ZnIzb21wbDRyaHZrcG1sYTUzNjhAZw Invitation from Google Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/ You are receiving this email at the account sydphil at arts.usyd.edu.au because you are subscribed for notifications on calendar Seminars. To stop receiving these emails, please log in to https://www.google.com/calendar/ and change your notification settings for this calendar. Forwarding this invitation could allow any recipient to modify your RSVP response. Learn more at https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37135#forwarding -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From calendar-notification at google.com Wed Mar 29 14:59:52 2017 From: calendar-notification at google.com (Google Calendar) Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2017 03:59:52 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Notification: Michael Duncan @ Thu 30 Mar 2017 15:00 - 16:30 (Current Projects) Message-ID: <001a114920decc1f12054bd69bcb@google.com> This is a notification for: Title: Michael Duncan Title: On Composite Objects and Their Properties The orthodox view of composition has it that composite objects are numerically distinct from the objects that compose them, taken together or separately. The rival view ? composition as identity ? says that composite objects are numerically identical to the objects that compose them, taken together. Thus, a chair is, on this view, identical to some atoms arranged in the shape of a chair. I will argue that accepting the orthodox view is more costly than it may initially seem. Unlike composition as identity, it requires giving up on a natural and seemingly widely held view about what I will call ?heterogeneous properties?: properties like being black and white, and being polka-dotted. Furthermore, all of the known alternatives to that view face serious difficulties. When: Thu 30 Mar 2017 15:00 ? 16:30 Eastern Time - Melbourne, Sydney Calendar: Current Projects Who: * Kristie Miller- creator Event details: https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=XzZncmo4ZTluODhvazJiYTI2OTEzZ2I5azYwcjNlYjlvNzEyajBiOWc4NTEzZWQyMjZncjM2ZzltODggZmV2MWxkcjRsa2h2MDM2b2U0aW4yanR0ZGdAZw Invitation from Google Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/ You are receiving this email at the account sydphil at arts.usyd.edu.au because you are subscribed for notifications on calendar Current Projects. To stop receiving these emails, please log in to https://www.google.com/calendar/ and change your notification settings for this calendar. Forwarding this invitation could allow any recipient to modify your RSVP response. Learn more at https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37135#forwarding -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From calendar-notification at google.com Thu Mar 30 14:00:09 2017 From: calendar-notification at google.com (Google Calendar) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2017 03:00:09 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Notification: Victoria McGeer @ Wed 5 Apr 2017 13:00 - 14:30 (Seminars) Message-ID: <001a113a71e012eb16054be9e420@google.com> This is a notification for: Title: Victoria McGeer Scaffolding agency: a proleptic view of the 'reactive' attitudes In this talk, I examine the methodological claim made famous by P.F. Strawson: that we understand what features are required for responsible agency by exploring our attitudes and practices of holding responsible. What is the presumed metaphysical connection between holding responsible and being fit to be held responsible that makes this claim credible? I propose a non-standard answer to this question, arguing for a view of responsible agency that is neither anti-realist (i.e. purely 'conventionalist') nor straightforwardly realist. It is instead ?constructivist?. On the ?Scaffolding View? I defend, reactive attitudes play an essential role in developing, supporting, and thereby maintaining the capacities that make for responsible agency. While this view has relatively novel implications for a metaphysical understanding of ?capacities?, its chief virtue, in contrast with more standard views, is providing a plausibly defensible account of how so-called responsible agents genuinely deserve to be treated as such. When: Wed 5 Apr 2017 13:00 ? 14:30 Eastern Time - Melbourne, Sydney Calendar: Seminars Who: * Sam Shpall- creator Event details: https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=Y2lta285Zml2M3NtMTlydGhwNGg5MmV0N2sgMm1lN2M3ZnIzb21wbDRyaHZrcG1sYTUzNjhAZw Invitation from Google Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/ You are receiving this email at the account sydphil at arts.usyd.edu.au because you are subscribed for notifications on calendar Seminars. To stop receiving these emails, please log in to https://www.google.com/calendar/ and change your notification settings for this calendar. Forwarding this invitation could allow any recipient to modify your RSVP response. Learn more at https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37135#forwarding -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From patrickm at uow.edu.au Fri Mar 31 09:38:46 2017 From: patrickm at uow.edu.au (Patrick McGivern) Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2017 22:38:46 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] UOW Philosophy Seminar: Rachael Brown, "Re-use and evolvability" Message-ID: <1490913526109.37493@uow.edu.au> UOW Philosophy is pleased to have Dr. Rachael Brown speaking at its Philosophy Research Seminar series on April 5th. All are welcome. Title: Re-use and evolvability When: Wednesday, April 5th, 3:30-5:00 Where: Building 19, room 2072 (LHA Research HUB), UOW main campus Abstract: Re-use as a design principle is central to understanding and explaining complex systems in the biological world and building better human-made dynamic systems. The re-use of old materials for new purposes leaves its mark on the design and features of systems in many ways. For instance, the former function of a re-used element of a system can constrain its future use. In this paper, I explore the ways in which biological systems can be structured so as to enable re-use and the impacts of this on the ability of those systems to change over time. The main seminar will be followed by an undergraduate Philosophy Forum event, discussing the question "Is artificial intelligence possible?" Upcoming UOW Philosophy events: April 19th: Tuomas Tahko May 10th: Andrew Dunstall May 24th: Neil Levy -- Dr. Patrick McGivern Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Wollongong patrickm at uow.edu.au -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From adam.hochman at mq.edu.au Fri Mar 31 12:30:58 2017 From: adam.hochman at mq.edu.au (Adam Hochman) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2017 01:30:58 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] MQ Philosophy Seminar on Tuesday the 4th of April: Katrina Hutchison (MQ) Message-ID: Not enough sex on the bench? The neglected problem of bias and bench testing Katrina Hutchison (MQ) Date: Tuesday, 4th of April Time: 13:00 - 14:00 Venue: W6A 708, Macquarie University ABSTRACT: Laboratory (or bench) testing plays a significant role in ensuring that surgical implants such as hip replacements and pacemakers are safe. Often bench tests are backed by standards, such as those set by the international organization for standardization (ISO). Approvals bodies, as well as individual surgeons and patients, place considerable faith in laboratory testing and the standards that underpin them. Despite the important role of bench testing, there has been very little discussion of associated ethical issues. In this paper I argue that laboratory testing regimes are vulnerable to biases and conflicts of interest that threaten patient safety. I illustrate the risks by discussing the case of metal-on-metal hip replacements. Although regulators and standards bodies have scope to address these problems, I argue that in fact standards bodies such as the ISO are themselves vulnerable to bias and conflict of interest. I conclude with preliminary recommendations for addressing these issues. Contact: Adam Hochman (adam.hochman at mq.edu.au) or Mike Olson (michael.olson at mq.edu.au) A google calendar with details of other events in this series is available for viewing and subscription by following this link: goo.gl/3Iu7hk --- Adam Hochman Lecturer in Philosophy & Macquarie University Research Fellow Department of Philosophy | W6A, Room 733 Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia Staff Profile | http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/department_of_philosophy/staff/adam_hochman/ Academia.edu Page | https://mq.academia.edu/AdamHochman Philpapers Page | http://philpapers.org/profile/48626 Personal Website | adamhochman.com T: +61 2 9850 8859 | arts.mq.edu.au [Macquarie University] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From calendar-notification at google.com Fri Mar 31 15:59:52 2017 From: calendar-notification at google.com (Google Calendar) Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2017 04:59:52 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Notification: Michael Devitt @ Thu 6 Apr 2017 15:00 - 16:30 (Current Projects) Message-ID: <001a113d079a0bde40054bffaee2@google.com> This is a notification for: Title: Michael Devitt ABSTRACT THE REFERENCE OF PROPER NAMES: TESTING USAGE AND INTUITIONS Michael Devitt and Nicolas Porot Experiments on theories of reference have mostly tested referential intuitions. We think that experiments should rather be testing linguistic usage. This paper has four aims. Substantive Aim (I): to test classical description theories of proper names against usage by ?elicited production?. Our results count decisively against those theories. Methodological Aim (I): In response to Mart? (2009), Machery et al. (2009) conducted a truth-value judgment test that they claimed tested usage. Mart? (2014) disagreed. We aim to investigate this issue. We argue that Machery et al. are right and offer some experimental support for that conclusion. Substantive aim (II): Machery et al. provided evidence that the usage of a name varied, being sometimes descriptive, sometimes not. That would be a damaging discovery for the theory of reference. So our aim was to test usage to see if we replicated this variation. In seven out of eight experiments we did not. Methodological Aim (II): to test the reliability of the folk?s referential intuitions by comparing them with the results of our tests of usage. Past tests led us to predict that we would find those intuitions unreliable. Surprisingly, that is not what we found. Our results suggest that tests of referential intuition are susceptible to unpredictable wording effects, casting doubt on them as effective ways to test theories of reference. When: Thu 6 Apr 2017 15:00 ? 16:30 Eastern Time - Melbourne, Sydney Where: The Muniment Room, Main Qad Calendar: Current Projects Who: * Kristie Miller- creator Event details: https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=VIEW&eid=Xzg0cGowZ3BuODRzajRiOW82aDBqYWI5azY5MWpnYjlwODRwNDRiOWc4NG9rNGhoZzcwcGs4YzFuOGMgZmV2MWxkcjRsa2h2MDM2b2U0aW4yanR0ZGdAZw Invitation from Google Calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/ You are receiving this email at the account sydphil at arts.usyd.edu.au because you are subscribed for notifications on calendar Current Projects. To stop receiving these emails, please log in to https://www.google.com/calendar/ and change your notification settings for this calendar. Forwarding this invitation could allow any recipient to modify your RSVP response. Learn more at https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37135#forwarding -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: