Philosophy Schedule for Spring 2013

The class schedule for spring 2013 is available. Registration begins in November.

ERGO Tournament

Join the NKU Philosophy Club for an ERGO tournament Friday, October 26 starting at 3:00 in GH 316.

...a great game, highly recommended for scientists, philosophers and closet geeks. - boardgamegeek.com

A fun romp and definitely one for the gray matter in us all. -boardgamegeek.com

_Ergo is the logical card game for the geek in all of us. Each player plays a variable (A, B, C, or D) and uses familiar logical operators like Not, And, Or, If-Then to prove they exist, and that their opponents don't! Along the way, watch out for cards that will shift the equation like Wild Cards, Tabula Rosa or the dreaded Fallacy card.Each Player takes turns creating and changing the four premises of the proof to make true statements. Watch out though, when someone plays the Ergo card, whoever is true scores! _ - trollandtoad.com

Jean-Paul Sartre's Blog

What if Jean-Paul Sartre had a blog?

Sunday, 12 July, 1959: 9:55 A.M.An angry crow mocked me this morning. I couldn’t finish my croissant, and fled the café in despair.
The crow descended on the croissant, squawking fiercely. Perhaps this was its plan.
Perhaps there is no plan.

Jean-Paul Sartre's Blog : The New Yorker

Euthyphro Dilemma

The Euthyphro dilemma--what have the gods got to do with morality? ...an editorial in the Washington Post by Massimo Pigliucci.

Think about it: after all, science is by far the best approach human beings have devised to learn about how the world works — and surely that sort of knowledge is necessary to make good decisions about how to live. Philosophy, on its part, is a way to reflect about our choices, our priorities, and in general why we do what we do. It seems to follow, then, that the smart thing to do is to learn from the best of what science and philosophy can tell us in order to make the most informed decisions we can in our lives. Aristotle (and Plato, and Socrates) would have approved.

Lucy Lawless (AKA Xena, the Warrior Princess) Studies Philosophy

How Political Commitment Led Lucy Lawless (AKA Xena, the Warrior Princess) to Study Philosophy

“I went to the UN summit on sustainable development after getting involved in the whole… big oil protest… and I saw all of these people working very hard but seemingly at cross-purposes about how do we create a just society.” On a full two-hour episode of The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast (which she claims was largely responsible for turning her on to philosophy), she describes how this political interest drove her to look at the foundations and histories of theories of justice, and eventually decide to go back to school to study philosophy, which she’s now doing in New Zealand between flights to the states to film TV spots such as her recent appearance on NBC’s Parks and Recreation.

How Political Commitment Led Lucy Lawless (AKA Xena, the Warrior Princess) to Study Philosophy | Open Culture

A Clockwork Orange

If you haven't seen A Clockwork Orange yet, it is a must-see and this is a don't-miss event. It's intense. It's thought-provoking. It's a masterpiece. We will screen it (and discuss it!) on Friday, Oct. 12 from 3:00-6:00 in the Digitorium, GH at NKU.

What makes a person good? Do we have free will? Can society take away our choices for the good of society? Join us as we watch this classic film and discuss these and other questions.

Babies Aren’t So Moral After All, Unless We Engineer Them That Way

Are babies born moral?

Sorry, baby lovers. The latest research on the “Do babies have an innate moral compass?” question indicates that no, they do not. Rather, like a puppy or young chimp, babies enjoy watching bright objects bounce up and down. Right and wrong, good and evil, do not seem to enter the picture.

Babies Aren’t So Moral After All, Unless We Engineer Them That Way

Political Philosophers and Elections

What political philosophers have to say about elections.

What I will do is identify and introduce half a dozen passages on elections in famous books on politics that every educated person, or serious citizen, would reasonably wish to be acquainted with.

Are You Smarter Than a Freshman? | Hoover Institution

Thinking fish & zombie caterpillars

Philosopher Michael Tye is interviewed at 3:AM Magazine.

Michael Tye is the jumpin’ jack flashman of philosophy of mind, always updating his zap mind with rigorous brooding on the nature of phenomenal consciousness. To do this he has to consider a whole bunch of things – including inverted earths, whether swamp things have eyes, how chinese sounds to the chinese, the beliefs of fish, one eyed zombie caterpillars, camouflaged moths, orgasms, the planet Vulcan and the difference between Keith Richards hallucinating a tomatoe and him hallucinating a unicorn. He writes his books to catch his thoughts as they shoot on by. All in all, he’s a funky swell.

Thinking fish & zombie caterpillars » 3:AM Magazine