Departmental news

Professor Fabienne Peter will be the Guest Speaker at the next meeting of The Aristotelian Society, which takes place on Monday 29 October 2018, 1730-1915. Her subject will be 'Normative Facts and Reason'. All are welcome.

The Woburn Suite, Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London WC13 7HU.

https://www.aristoteliansociety.org.uk/the-proceedings/the-2018-19-programme/fabienne-peter/

The Sense of Commitment: An Integrative Framework for Modelling the Sense of Commitment project, which has received a grant from the EU's European Research Council (ERC), is led by Dr John Michael. His project team are investigating how we assess our own levels of commitment and those of others, and their work is seeking to fill the scientific knowledge gap through research that could impact on a significantly wide range of disciplines, including how robots interact with humans. It might also hold promise for improved treatment of borderline personality disorder.

'This kind of research will help keep the EU at the forefront of innovation in robotics but also productivity - maintaining motivation in companies - and health' says John Michael. Please see here for the full update: https://erc.europa.eu/projects-figures/stories/making-sense-commitment

This article features in the latest TLS Online as part of the Footnotes to Plato series. Guy Longworth assessess John Langshaw Austin (1911-1960) and his view that philosophers fail to understand everyday speech.

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/j-l-austin-return-common-sense/

Warwick in London have organised a two-day Philosophy Taster Course, taking place on Thursday 25 - Friday 26 October 2018, at the Warwick in London HQ, Stanley Building, 7 Pancras Square, Kings Cross, London N1C 4AG.

The programme offers an opportunity to experience what it is like to study Philosophy at University-level, and will analyse and reflect on fundamental questions arising from philosophical issues and texts. It will also provide hands-on instruction by members of the Philosophy Department to encourage and advance the critical and analytical skills of the participants.

The course is aimed at individuals who are 16 years old and over, and who are undertaking or have previously completed A Levels or equivalent (Key Stage 5). There are no subject criteria, but curiosity about Philosophy and a desire to learn and contribute to study and discussion in this area is essential. The course may also be of interest to students considering studying Philosophy as a Single Honours or Joint Honours degree. Please see link here for further information.

https://warwick.ac.uk/about/london/study/pre-university/tasters/philosophy_taster

Many congratulations to the winners of the Philosophy and Literature Essay Prize 2017. They are:

Lydia Norris (Joint First Prize of £200) and Jim Russell (Joint First Prize of £200).

Andrew Dobson (Runner-Up Prize of £125).

Lydia graduates this summer in Philosophy (BA (Hons) 2018); Jim is now pursuing his PhD research on 'The Self and Narrative', co-supervised by Eileen John (Philosophy) and Thomas Docherty (English and Comparative Literary Studies). Andrew is embarking on further study with an MA course at the Humboldt University in Berlin.

Read the award-winning essays here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/undergraduate/essay-competition-copy

Dr John Michael, of The University of Warwick and Central European University (Budapest), has played a key mentoring role in the early career success of Robert Bing, who is a student at Lynbrook High School in Lynbrook, New York, USA. Robert Bing has just had an article published which consolidates his recent research, supported by Dr Michael, into the design of robots.

'Perceptual Ephemera' published by Oxford University Press (June 2018) is the first collective philosophical study of the perception of non-substantial objects, such as shadows, rainbows and reflections. It sets out to explore these unusual, marginal and neglected aspects of the perceived world in fifteen new essays. As well as research on the 'visibillia' already mentioned, the volume includes essays on sounds, smells, transparency, absences, camoufage, solidity and ambient vision.

The University of Warwick has recently introduced a new 'Impact Leave' scheme for the academic years 2018/19 and 2019/20, to support the development of REF2021 impact case studies. This scheme will provide study leave for key staff where dedicated time is essential to prepare for high quality REF impact case studies. This process is entirely separate from Study Leave, and does not impact the latter in any way.

Deadlines for consideration of applications for academic year 2018/19 will be 31 July 2018 and 30 September 2018

Deadline for consideration of applications for the academic year 2019/20 will be 31 January 2019; 31 March 2019 and 30 June 2019. Applications approved by the Department will be reviewed by the Pro Vice Chancellor (Research) and the appropriate Chair of Faculty, prior to consideration by the Provost, on behalf of the Academic Staff Committee.

Stephen Butterfill and Diarmuid Costello have both been appointed Professors in Philosophy.

Professor Butterfill's research has focused on philosophical issues in the areas of cognitive and developmental psychology but current projects include research related to joint action and mind reading. He is also at present involved with a number of theoretical and experimental collaborations with scientific colleagues.

Professor Costello's research involves both analytic and continental approaches to aesthetics and the philosophy of art, informed by recent debates in art history and theory. His book 'On Photography: A Philosophical Inquiry' (London, Routledge), was published in October 2017.

Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society and Oxford Academic have launched 'Moral Value and Objectivity - A Virtual Issue', edited by Guy Longworth. The papers in this collection have been chosen from previous volumes of Proceedings as potentially illuminating the nature of moral values and directives. More specifically, each of the papers engages with questions about the extent to which our moral attitudes purport to reflect objective features of the world we share.

Further information, see here:
https://academic.oup.com/aristotelian/pages/moral_value_objectivity