University of North Florida Department of Philosophy
Fall 2003 Newsletter

We added to our number this year two new philosophers, Dr. Daniel Callcut and Dr. Jennifer Fisher. Dr. Callcut is an ethicist whose research has primarily focused on the highly influential work of Bernard Williams. He earned his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and his interests include the history of ethics, applied ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of mind, and American philosophy. Dr. Fisher is a philosopher of logic, whose work has focused on the empirical revisability of logic. She earned her Ph.D. at the City University of New York (CUNY) and her interests include epistemology, logic, philosophy of language, and pragmatism.

The Department has launched searches for two new philosophers, both of which are in applied ethics, with specific foci on business ethics in the one case and bioethics in the other. Information about these searches in available in the department's web site.

We hope, although I must emphasize that we are still in the planning stages, to be able to offer a Masters Degree in applied philosophical studies, in "Practical Philosophy and Applied Ethics." We are in the middle of the proposal process, and so little can be shared in terms of when we might begin admitting students or what the program will look like exactly, but, speaking optimistically, we plan to implement the plans, putting the curriculum in place and recruiting students, just as soon as the proposal is approved by the Board of Trustees. Keep a watch on the Department's web site for news about this.

This year the newly-named and newly-endowed Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Center for Ethics, Public Policy, and the Professions has a new director: Dr. A. David Kline. As friends of UNF will know, Dr. Kline is also the Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and a philosophy professor. Last year he served as Interim President of the University. The Ethics Center also has a restructured steering committee, composed this year of Drs. Callcut, Fenner, and Ingersoll. The Ethics Center offered a Symposium in the Ethics of Education on October 16. This symposium, cosponsored by the College of Education and Human Services, featured Dr. Gerald Bracey and was on the following topic: "Has the State of Florida failed its legal obligation to provide a high quality education? How would we know?" The talk by Dr. Bracey was followed by a panel, organized and moderated by Dean Kathe Kasten, which included Susan Wilkinson, president of the Schultz Center for Teaching and Leadership; Dr. Henry Thomas, Department of Political Science and Public Administration; Janet Owen, director of UNF Governmental Affairs; and Dr. Pritchy Smith, Division of Curriculum and Instruction. More information on this symposium and Dr. Bracey can be found in the Ethics Center's web site.

Our visiting professors in philosophy this year are Dr. Fred Altieri, Dr. Andrew Jones Cathcart, and Dr. Marin Smillov. Dr. David Bowen, our previous years' visitor, has a permanent position with Florida Community College at Jacksonville (FCCJ) now, and we offer him our hearty congratulations! Dr. Bowen, along with Dr. Erich Freiberger of Jacksonville University and Dr. Wagner, are organizing this year's exciting Philosophy Slams, all held at Fuel coffee house in Five Points in Riverside. Attendance at the first slam this fall topped 120, a new record. Congratulations to Dr. Wagner for the success of these outstanding events!

Our adjunct faculty include this year Prof. Robert Bass, Prof. Corlette Bell, Dr. Elizabeth Daniell, Dr. Antonio de Nicolas, Prof. John Farrar, Dr. Patricia Scarbrough, Prof. Timothy Simpson, Prof. Will Reed, Dr. Andrea Weisberger, and Dr. John Young. Congratulation to Prof. Bass on his recent marriage to Gayle Dean!

Dr. Andrew Buchwalter is on leave this year from his teaching duties and his duties as department chair. He is completing two book projects. One is a systematic treatment of Hegel's political philosophy, focusing especially on Hegel's value for current debates in political and social theory; the other is a collection of essays, comparing Hegel to other thinkers on specific topics.

Dr. Daniel Callcut is currently developing the outline for a book on the moral philosophy of Bernard Williams. He will be contributing two new course offerings for the Philosophy Department in the spring 2004 semester: a course on The Art of Living and a course on the Philosophy of Psychiatry. The Art of Living explores different conceptions of the good life and some of the ways that philosophers have proposed that one can achieve it (or practice it). Philosophy of Psychiatry, a 4000 level course, will examine some of the philosophical and ethical issues raised by the theory and practice of psychiatry.

Dr. David Fenner, while Dr. Buchwalter is on sabbatical, is serving this year as Interim Chairperson of the Department. He is working on a couple of book projects, one is a half-authored/half-edited book on art criticism, and one is a monograph tentatively entitled Art in Context, which argues for the importance of context to understanding the value of a work of art and which argues against the tradition of disinterest as the proper vantage point from which to approach and judge art. His current paper projects focus on the value of art (specifically arguing against instrumental theories of the value of art), on environmental aesthetics, and on aesthetic considerations in making research-methodology choices. He just completed an encyclopedia article on "taste" for the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, and his book, Introducing Aesthetics, was just published. He is working with philosophy major Charles Blackmar on an Undergraduate Academic Enrichment Program project in environmental aesthetics.

Dr. Jennifer Fisher is currently engaged in research combining the areas of normative metaphysics, epistemology, and logic. She is working on several papers concerning the revisability of logic, arguing that logic in particular, and reasoning in general, are not a priori and should both be regarded as revisable for empirical reasons. In addition, she is in the early stages of a book, in which she will develop and defend a non-cognitivist conception of logic, in the tradition of non-cognitivism about ethics. She is currently working on two papers in this regard. In one, she defends non-cognitivism about logic from a recent criticism, and in the other she addresses one of the long-standing problems, called Geach's problem, for non-cognitivism about ethics. In the spring, she will be an invited participant at a Philosophy of Logic workshop at UNC Chapel Hill.

Dr. Julie Ingersoll's book Evangelical Christian Women: War Stories in the Gender Battles is due out this month from New York University Press. Her textbook, Baptist and Methodist Faiths in America, was released by Facts on File, April 2003. In the process of revising her book for publication she came to some additional theoretical observations too late for inclusion. They form the basis for the paper she will present this fall at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. The book explores the gender related conflict between "evangelical feminists" and "gender traditionalists" within the conservative Christian subculture. Dr. Ingersoll sees this as two sides in a battle, warring against each other for control. What she now wants to explore is the way in which the opponents of so-called traditionalism end up reinforcing the traditionalism by their very opposition to it. She has two papers she is working on developing into larger projects: (1) "Visions of Dixie: the 'Stars and Bars' in Popular Culture," a study of the conflicts over the Confederate battle flag, is under revision for submission to a journal. This paper looks at various symbolic meanings attached to the confederate battle flag, including two put forth by African America groups as subversive of racism. (2) A revision of "The Christian Reconstruction Movement: Re-Visiting the Origins of the Religious Right," will be the basis of a documentary history of the religious right in America. Scholarly treatments of the rise of the religious right see it "coming out of nowhere" in 1980. She argues that through the 1960s and 1970s there were changes taking place in American fundamentalism that led to the rise of the religious right. The book will make this argument and include many of the documents that facilitated those changes.

Dr. Bert Kögler is currently on sabbatical leave. During the summer 2003, he gave five talks in Europe, including two at international conferences on 'Philosophy and Social Science' and 'Toward a New Science of Consciousness' in Prague, a presentation on his previous and current research invited by the Czech Academy of the Sciences, and two papers at the XXI. World Congress of Philosophy in Istanbul, where he also organized a Roundtable on the philosophical foundations of intercultural dialogue. In the context of his sabbatical, Prof. Kögler is conducting research on a project tentatively titled "Languages of the Self: The Cultural Grounds of Agency and Autonomy." The project defends and reconstructs the possibility of ethical agency and moral autonomy after the postmodern critiques of the subject. Activities during the sabbatical time also include preparing a second edition of his book on influential French philosopher Michel Foucault, a two-month scholarly residency as external member of an MA program at Charles University, Prague, and a guest professorship at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria, in Spring 2004.

Dr. John Maraldo's work in Asian and Comparative Philosophy was recognized this October with an invitation to serve on the board of the leading journal, Philosophy East and West. He is currently working on Buddhist aesthetics and on the problem of nothingness in Japanese Kyoto School philosophy as well as in contemporary physics. He will present some of this work at conferences this November and January. This past summer he presented a paper on a Non-Economic Model of the Common Good from a Kyoto School Perspective; and last year published chapters in two books and a journal article on contemporary Japanese thinkers. In the spring semester, he will teach a comparative (East/West) philosophy course on the body, and the senior capstone seminar on Cross-cultural philosophy: themes in meta-ethics and ontology.

Dr. Assya Pascalev is currently on leave; she and her husband Mario recently had a baby, Alexander. We expect to have Dr. Pascalev back with us in the spring semester. Congratulations to Assya, Mario, and Alice! Her most recent research has focused on the morality of biotechnology with special interest in the novel area of food ethics. She explores the notion of integrity as a basis for evaluating the morality of genetically modified foods. Her research resulted in the presentation "Genetically Modified Foods, Integrity and the Social Contract" at the Fourth International Congress of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Safety (Toulouse, France) in March 2003. A paper on the topic titled "You Are What You Eat: Genetically Modified Foods, Integrity and Society" will be published in the December issue of the international Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. In May, she was appointed co-editor of the quarterly newsletter of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Safety. Over the summer, she contributed an article, "Applied Ethics," for the Bulgarian Lexicon of Philosophy. She also continues to be active in the local health care community. She became a founding member and currently serves as a consultant for the Jacksonville Community Coalition Caring for Children devoted to implementing a citywide program of palliative care for children with life-limiting illnesses.

Dr. Ellen Wagner returned from a sabbatical year this fall. She spent two months of that time as an academic visitor at the University of Oxford, where she attended seminars and lectures as well as pursuing her own research. She is currently writing articles on the moral psychology of Plato's Republic, concerning compulsion, persuasion, and the problem of heteronomy vs. autonomy. She continues to meet with the Plato reading group, which includes both students and faculty, every two weeks.

Michael Hurlburt and Brent Williamson are both in their second year of graduate training in philosophy at the University of Miami.

Jared Jaskot recently returned to the States from time spent in El Salvador, as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching crop rotation and diversification.

Keith Marks has also returned to the States after spending a number of months in Britain. He is, as always, involved in a number of activities, but his primary vocation currently is as a professional masseuse.

Michele Merritt was accepted into the University of South Florida philosophy graduate program and began studies there this fall. She joins other graduates of the philosophy program, who are apparently known collectively as the "UNF mafia."

William Reed is back in America, after earning his M.Litt. at the University of St Andrews (Scotland) and after spending a number of years living in London. He is offering two Introduction to Philosophy courses at UNF this fall.

Renee Reed and Will recently had a baby, Sophia. They were in London while Renee pursued her Ph.D. in education at the University of London. She is currently working on her dissertation.

David Robbins (B.A. 2001) earned his M.A. in philosophy this fall from the international program of the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium, after a two year period of study there. He wrote his thesis on Wittgenstein and Foucault. Students interested in graduate study abroad are urged to contact Dr. John Maraldo.

Sean Smith (B.A. Philosophy '94) returned after two years living in Japan and is now working at Citi as a User Experience Analyst. He oversees web-based projects focusing on HCI and usability principles for the credit card business. He has been married for four years to Chikako. He intends to apply for the MA philosophy program when it is implemented.

Jim Stuart is currently pursuing graduate training at Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, IA. Jim is working towards his ordination as a minister in the Lutheran church.

Christian Williams won the 2002 Florida Philosophical Association's Gerrit and Edith Schipper Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Paper.

PHH 3400/016, MODERN PHILOSOPHY, CALL #9354, TR 3:05-4:20, M. SMILLOV

This course examines the major philosophical developments that accompanied the emergence of the "modern"--i.e., post-classical, post-Medieval-world. We consider the 17th and 18th century's most prominent thinkers as they strive to comprehend the world in the wake of the radical changes engulfing Europe and elsewhere. We focus on the three major philosophical movements of the age: rationalism, represented by Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz; empiricism, represented by Locke, Berkeley and Hume; and the "synthesis" of rationalism and empiricism forged by Immanuel Kant. The course will deal principally with questions of epistemology and metaphysics (i.e., the nature of knowledge and reality), but will focus as well on moral, political, and religious issues. A central aim of the course to gain an appreciation of those thinkers who have shaped philosophy as we now know it and whose thought remains both a point of departure and source of provocation for much of contemporary philosophizing.

PHI 3130/014, SYMBOLIC LOGIC, CALL #9387, TR 1:40-2:55, J. FISHER

The study of logic is both useful and intellectually rewarding. It allows us to sharpen our ability to reason things through, to see the logical consequences of our beliefs, and to distinguish good reasoning from bad. Primarily, in this course we will learn a symbolic notation that allows us to clearly develop and express these abilities with great efficiency and elegance. In addition, where appropriate, we will consider the philosophical implications of logic and logical thinking. This course satisfies a core requirement for the philosophy major; it also satisfies the Gordon Rule mathematics requirement.

PHI 3641/003, BUSINESS ETHICS, CALL # 9388, TR 6:00-7:15, P. SCARBROUGH

In this course we will examine several basic ethical theories and their application to business practice. The main topics will include the purpose of the corporation; the regulation of business (accountability and responsibility); acceptable risk (consumer, occupational, environmental, and investment); the rights and obligations of employees and employers; hiring, firing and discriminating; marketing and disclosure; ethical issues in international business; and social and economic justice. Learning will be accomplished through the application of background readings to case studies within each unit.

PHI 3930/BE/579, MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY, CALL #9389, MW 7:30-8:45, F. ALTIERI

As Christianity grew from a small, insignificant cult into the official state religion, it was obliged to respond to the charges of the pagan philosophers and justify itself as a legitimate worldview. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, when the Church established itself as the sole heir to pan-European political power, it attempted to synthesize its dual responsibilities of spiritual guidance and political control into a coherent mission. And when the established order was threatened by Islam from without and unorthodoxy from within, it responded in an often brutal and uncompromising manner. All of these developments were reflected in the philosophy of the time. This course will trace the evolution of Western thought from the end of the Roman Empire until the Renaissance, and examine how the basic ideas of Christianity were fused with Classical philosophy and adapted to meet he challenges of secular authority. How was Christianity influenced by Greek and Roman philosophy? To what extent are Christian theology, political power, and secular philosophy compatible? What effect did the Islamic philosophers have upon Christianity? How should we characterize events such as the Crusades and the Inquisition? We will investigate these questions and more in our survey of Medieval Philosophy.

PHI 3930/BF/580, ST: PRAGMATISM, CALL #9390, TR 4:30-5:45, J. FISHER

Pragmatism is perhaps the most enduring philosophical movement to come solely from American soil. Still claiming many adherents today, pragmatism's roots go back to the end of 19th Century. In this course, we will focus on the development of pragmatist ideas as they occurred in three early famous advocates of the view: Wiliam James, Charles Sanders Peirce, and John Dewey. We will study each of these philosophers separately, exploring the similarities and differences that emerge among their philosophies. In addition, we will look at some contemporary pragmatists, including Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam, and W.V.Quine. In spite of the differences between these many philosophers, certain similarities will become apparent, and it is these that will be seen to most strongly define both historical and contemporary pragmatism.

PHI 3930 BG/590, CLINICAL PHILOSOPHY, CALL #9391, TR 10:50-12:05, DE NICOLAS

Decision-making is a needed skill in a world that is so complex, and it is at this time in the life of our students, that is, between the ages of 19 to 30, that the frontal lobes may open if properly exercised. These frontal lobes are essential for decision-making in complex situations. Our educational system is biased in favor of veridical decisions, decisions geared to agreements between subject and object, logical, disembodied models, what is right and what is wrong. For this kind of decisions no neural development is necessary, no frontal lobes need to open, the rules are in the game. This is a course designed to train students to recognize the difference between veridical decisions and decisions in complex situations, and the technologies involved in both. And we shall use the class to exercise these technologies. Contemporary discoveries in neurobiology confirm these same epistemologies and the need for exercise them for them to develop.

PHI 3930/BH/600, ST: THE ART OF LIVING, CALL #9392, W 6:00-8:45, D. CALLCUT

This course will explore different conceptions of the good life and some of the ways that philosophers have proposed one can achieve it (or practice it). We will examine the following questions: What habits or skills does one need to live well and how, if at all, can one go about acquiring them? Is living well primarily a matter of feeling good about one's life or does it involve other more 'objective' components? Should we think of the art of living as identical with morality or should we think of the art of living as something broader and more all-encompassing than morality? We will by looking at these questions also thereby consider the merits of the Socratic tradition of philosophy as a practical enterprise directed at the goal of living well (as opposed to a rival understanding of philosophy, one which became dominant in the West, according to which the main business of philosophy is theoretical rather than practical).

PHI 3931/AA/022, PHILOSOPHY EAST AND WEST: THE BODY, CALL #9393, MW 4:30-5:45, J. MARALDO

This course begins with a close look at how philosophy changes when we take seriously our embodied existence. We will read most of Philosophy in the Flesh, a book that uses the discoveries of the cognitive sciences to revolutionize typical philosophy and reveal how our ways of thinking are rooted in the body. We then we draw upon various cultural traditions, eastern and western, to show the different ways that the body is constructed, as female, male, powerful, weak, other than self or same as self, etc. Finally, we discuss an eastern philosophy of self-cultivation through the body. Some films and slides on art history, dance, martial arts, and contemporary advertising; and some bodily and perceptual exercises, will complement our philosophical reflections. This course is for students who have had at least an introductory course in philosophy and who want to explore today's burgeoning literature on the body from the perspective of comparative philosophy.

PHI 4930/AA/020, PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHIATRY, CALL #9395, MW 3:00-4:15, D. CALLCUT

This course will introduce some of the philosophical and ethical issues raised by the theory and practice of psychiatry. We will examine some of the following questions: What philosophical and ethical problems are raised by the very idea of 'mental health'? What are the goals of psychiatric care? Should psychiatric treatment be aimed at the mind, the brain, behavior, the self, the soul, or the whole person? What are the philosophical and ethical assumptions behind psychoanalysis? Is psychoanalysis a science, and does it matter if it is not? What philosophical and ethical questions are raised by the use of medication in psychiatric practice?

PHI 4935/AG/140, SEM: CROSS-CULTURAL PHILOSOPHY: THEMES IN META-ETHICS AND ONTOLOGY, CALL #9396, T 6:00-8:45, J. MARALDO

This capstone seminar meant for senior philosophy majors will focus on a set of problems addressed by three major 20th-century philosophers coming from distinct traditions, European and Japanese. It offers students a unique opportunity to study in detail something outside the mainstream western tradition. We will study seminal works of Heidegger, Watsuji, and Nishida, using the methods of comparative philosophy to expose hidden assumptions and discover alternatives in our understanding of human being, selfhood, and the world. Using contrasts from different traditions, we will also address the question of what philosophy is. The seminar is intended to train students to read and critique challenging philosophical texts, and to develop contrasting positions of their own.

PHM 3020/003, PHILOSOPHY OF LOVE & SEX, CALL #9398,MW 6:00-7:15, E. WAGNER

In this course, we look at our understanding of love and sex and how they are related. Is sex with love preferable to sex without love? What is the nature of marriage? What is natural and what is perverse in sexuality? We'll read a range of work from fiction to philosophy and will view films, as well. This course includes a great deal of discussion in an informal atmosphere, so if you are interested in thinking and talking about these questions, it is a good course for you.