From calendar-notification at google.com Tue Sep 19 13:00:02 2017 From: calendar-notification at google.com (Google Calendar) Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2017 03:00:02 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Notification: Nick Smith @ Wed 20 Sep 2017 13:00 - 14:30 (Seminars) Message-ID: <089e08237200349d3c0559820e79@google.com> This is a notification for: Title: Nick Smith "Plato on the Philosophers' Love of Truth" Early in Book VI, Plato makes the love of truth the critical criterion of what it means to have the nature of a philosopher, claiming that ?someone who loves learning must above all strive for every kind of truth from childhood on? (Republic 485d3-4). In this paper, I seek to explain what Plato means by ?every kind of truth,? but also to defend Plato against what some scholars have seen as an inconsistency in what he has to say about philosophers and truth. Earlier in the work, Plato had already acknowledged that his philosophers will often use dishonesty in the practice of ruling: ?It looks as though our rulers will have to make considerable use of falsehood and deception for the benefit of those they rule? (Republic V.459c9-d2). The problem is one that has exercised numerous scholars, and I do not pretend herein to provide either criticism or defense of Plato. Instead, my aim is to show only that there actually is a single, consistent view on truth in the Republic, and that what Plato has to say about the philosophers? interest in truth is cogent?but also somewhat unfamiliar in contemporary philosophy. When: Wed 20 Sep 2017 13:00 ? 14:30 Eastern Time - Melbourne, Sydney Where: Muniment Room, Sydney Uni Calendar: Seminars Who: * Sam Shpall- creator Event details: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/2mpABDcnqXVltZ?domain=google.com Invitation from Google Calendar: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/6eKdBDsgLJZ1IV?domain=google.com 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://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/6eKdBDsgLJZ1IV?domain=google.com and change your notification settings for this calendar. Forwarding this invitation could allow any recipient to modify your RSVP response. Learn more at https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/NX12BDU2gJbLI4?domain=support.google.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From arts.cave at mq.edu.au Wed Sep 20 11:46:46 2017 From: arts.cave at mq.edu.au (Centre for Agency, Values, and Ethics) Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2017 01:46:46 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] CAVE/Sydney workshop: New Directions on the Emergence and Maintenance of Individuality, 3-4 Oct, Macquarie Message-ID: Hi all, You are invited to a jointly hosted Macquarie University Research Centre for Agency, Values, and Ethics (CAVE), and University of Sydney Centre for the Foundations of Science workshop, "New Directions on the Emergence and Maintenance of Individuality" on 3 - 4 October 2017. Date: 3 - 4 October 2017 Time: 09.00 - 17.30 Venue: TBC, Macquarie University All welcome, but please register with Pierrick for catering purposes: pierrick.bourrat at mq.edu.au "New Directions on the Emergence and Maintenance of Individuality" Since the publication of the Major Transitions in Evolution by Maynard Smith and Szathm?ry in the mid 90s, the topic of the emergence of individuality in evolution has gained attention. Current evolutionary theory does not permit to account how and why lower-level individuals, such as cells, band together and form higher-level individuals, such as multicellular organisms. This interdisciplinary workshop will explore new directions in this area. Program: TUESDAY 09.00 ? 09.30: Silvia De Monte, ?Populations of Populations: How Structure Affects the Evolution of Function" (videoconference) 09.30 ? 10.30: Arvid ?gren, ?Genomic Conflicts and the Maintenance of Individuality? 10.30 ? 11.00: Coffee break 11.00 ? 12.00: Maureen O?Malley, ?Thinking As One: Humans, Microbiota, and Mind? 12.00 ? 13.30: Lunch 13.30 ? 14.00: Maria Rebolleda-Gomez, ?Relational Individualities: The Importance of Ecological Dynamics on the Evolution of Individuality? (videoconference) 14.00 ? 15.00: Andrew Holmes, ?The Contrasting Roles of Microbes in Disease: Individuality in Pathogens and Emergent Disease in Holobionts? 15.00 ? 16.00: Michael Gillings, ?Information, Replication and Individuality? 16.00 ? 16.30: Coffee break 16.30 ? 17.30: Paul Griffiths, Comment followed by discussion WEDNESDAY 09.00 ? 09.30: Ellen Clarke, ?Passing It On: the Evolution of Higher-Level Inheritance During ETIs? (videoconference) 09.30 ? 10.30: Tanya Latty, ?There's No 'I' in Team: Understanding Individuality in Collective Systems? 10.30 ? 11.00: Coffee break 11.00 ? 12.00: Paul Rainey, ?Ecological Scaffolding and the Evolution of Individuality? 12.00 ? 13.99: Andrew Black, ?Mechanistic Models of Multi-Level Darwinian Populations? 13.00 ? 14.30: Lunch 14.30 ? 15.30: Pierrick Bourrat, ?Revisiting the Criteria for Units of Selection? 15.30 ? 16.00: Coffee break 16.00 ? 17.00: Peter Godfrey-Smith, Comment followed by discussion All welcome! Contact Pierrick: pierrick.bourrat at mq.edu.au 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 calendar-notification at google.com Wed Sep 20 15:00:02 2017 From: calendar-notification at google.com (Google Calendar) Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2017 05:00:02 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] Notification: Maureen O'Malley @ Thu 21 Sep 2017 15:00 - 16:30 (Current Projects) Message-ID: This is a notification for: Title: Maureen O'Malley Do microbes control human minds? A critical survey of the literature Microbiome research has had considerable success in analysing the molecular composition of microbial communities in the human body. Analyses of the gut microbiome in particular have found many associations between microbiota composition and human health or disease states. A recent focus has been on the connections between gut microbiota and human behavioural states. Links have been made repeatedly between microbiota composition and host disorders such as anorexia, autism, anxiety and depression. Microbiota even appear to have effects on general cognition and memory, both positive and negative. Some strong interpretations have been made of these findings, including claims that microbiota control behaviour in the same way puppeteers control puppets, or that microbiome findings are the final nail in the coffin of ideas about free will. I?ll discuss these claims in light of several broad problems in microbiome research, to do with causality, normality, and our evolutionary relationships with our microbes. I have presented my views on these issues to scientists, but not to philosophers. What I?m hoping for is feedback about how to develop my analysis of this field for a more philosophical audience. When: Thu 21 Sep 2017 15:00 ? 16:30 Eastern Time - Melbourne, Sydney Where: The Muniment Room, Main Quad Calendar: Current Projects Who: * Kristie Miller- creator Event details: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/K410BnU3D8rVfR?domain=google.com Invitation from Google Calendar: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/e4MrBZUe52ExfM?domain=google.com 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://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/e4MrBZUe52ExfM?domain=google.com and change your notification settings for this calendar. Forwarding this invitation could allow any recipient to modify your RSVP response. Learn more at https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/W91ABZi2WG8DiG?domain=support.google.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From arts.cave at mq.edu.au Thu Sep 21 12:19:43 2017 From: arts.cave at mq.edu.au (Centre for Agency, Values, and Ethics) Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2017 02:19:43 +0000 Subject: [SydPhil] CAVE Bioethics Reading Group: Cooley, "A Kantian Moral Duty for the Soon-to-be-Demented to Commit Suicide, " 27 Sept, Macquarie Message-ID: Hi all, I think the next session of the CAVE bioethics reading group may be of interest to some of you. Info below. Please email Yves for more information. Kelly The details for our session next week are as follows: When: 27 September, Wednesday What time: 2:30pm to 4:00pm Where: E4A 323 Meeting Room, Macquarie University I would like to thank Hojjat, one of our members, for suggesting Dennis Cooley's article on "A Kantian Moral Duty for the Soon-to-be Demented to Commit Suicide" (2007). Cooley is a professor of philosophy and ethics at North Dakota State University. Abstract: It has been argued that, on Kantian grounds, pedophiles, rapists and murderers are morally obligated to take their own lives prior to committing a violent action that will end their moral agency. That is, to avoid destroying the agent's moral life by performing a morally suicidal action, the agent, while he still is a moral agent, should end his body's life. Although the cases of dementia and the morally reprehensible are vastly different, this Kantian interpretation might be useful in the debate on the permissibility of suicide for those facing dementia's effects. If moral agents have a duty to act as moral agents, then those who will lose their moral identity as moral agents have an obligation to themselves to end their physical lives prior to losing their dignity as persons. Hope to see you there. Regards, Yves -- Mr. Yves Saint James Aquino PhD candidate 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 michael.david.kirchhoff at gmail.com Fri Sep 22 07:37:45 2017 From: michael.david.kirchhoff at gmail.com (michael kirchhoff) Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2017 07:37:45 +1000 Subject: [SydPhil] UOW Philosophy Research Presents (Dr. Richard Heersmink, Macquarie) Message-ID: *UOW Philosophy Research Presents: * *The Narrative Self, Distributed Memory, and Evocative Objects* Speaker: Dr. Richard Heersmink (Macquarie) Date: 27 September 2017 Time: 15.30-16.45 Venue: 19.2072 (Research Hub) Aimed at staff and postgraduates, but open to all. *Abstract*: In this talk, I outline various ways in which artifacts are interwoven with autobiographical memory systems and conceptualize what this implies for the self. I first sketch the narrative approach to the self, arguing that who we are as persons is essentially our (unfolding) life story, which, in turn, determines our present beliefs and desires, but also directs our future goals and actions. I then argue that our autobiographical memory is partly anchored in our embodied interactions with an ecology of artifacts in our environment. Lifelogs, photos, videos, journals, diaries, souvenirs, jewelry, books, works of art, and many other meaningful objects trigger and sometimes constitute emotionally-laden autobiographical memories. Autobiographical memory is thus distributed across embodied agents and various environmental structures. To defend this claim, I draw on and integrate distributed cognition theory and empirical research in human-technology interaction. Based on this, I conclude that the self is neither defined by psychological states realized by the brain nor by biological states realized by the organism, but should be seen as a distributed and relational construct. Best wishes *Dr. Michael D. Kirchhoff * Lecturer in Philosophy School of Humanities and Social Enquiry Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: