THE REID ROOM, Philosophy, School of Humanities, 69 Oakfield Avenue (except where otherwise noted)

This programme is sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy, of which Glasgow is a branch, and whose support is gratefully acknowledged. Everyone is welcome; students, both postgrads and undergrads, are especially encouraged.

Second semester, 2012-13

08 January — Robert Williams (Leeds): “Decision making under indeterminacy”
15 January — Brian McElvee (St Andrews): “Vividness and the Relativism of Blame”
22 January — Gerald Lang (Leeds): “Theodicy and the Non-Identity Problem”
29 January — Ken Himma (Seattle Pacific U.): “A justification for the legal protection of intellectual property: the argument from investment”
05 February — Mikael Pettersson (Stockholm/Sheffield) “Negative Images: On Photography, Causation and Absences”
12 February — Julien Deonna (Geneva) /Fabrice Teroni (Bern): “Emotions as attitudes”
19 February — NO SEMINAR (hons reading party)
26 February — Marcia Baron (St Andrews) “Reasonableness”
05 March — Chris Hookway
12 March — Ulrike Heuer (Leeds)
19 March — William Mander (Oxford)
16 April — Neil Sinclair (Nottingham)
23 April — TBA
30 April — Simon Kirchin (Kent)
07 May — TBA
14 May — Neil Sinhababu (National University of Singapore)
21 May — TBA
28 May — Philip Meadows

A Public Lecture by Dr Kelly James Clark, Senior Research Fellow at the Kaufman Institute, Grand Valley State University.

There will be a wine reception after the lecture. There is no charge for entry.

A Series of Lectures by Myriam Bienenstock, Department of Philosophy, University François Rabelais at Tours (France)

Lecture 1: The French Connection, Wednesday, April 10, 5 p.m.
(Respondent: Prof. Jeffrey Mehlman, BU Dept. of Romance Languages)

Lecture 2: The German Connection, Wednesday, April 17, 5 p.m.
(Respondent: Prof. Daniel Dahlstrom, BU Dept. of Philosophy)

Lecture 3: The Jewish Connection, Wednesday, April 24, 5 p.m.
(Respondent: Prof. Eugene Sheppard, Brandeis University Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)

This series of lectures is cosponsored by the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies.

The Boston University Institute for Philosophy & Religion was established in 1969/1970 to explore major issues in philosophy, theology, religion, and the humanities through lectures, colloquia, research projects, and publications. The programs are designed to transcend disciplinary divisions between religious and philosophical inquiry. The institute is an academic unit of the Boston University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and is cosponsored by the School of Theology, the Department of Religion, and the Department of Philosophy. Funding for this year’s lecture series has been generously provided by the Boston University Center for the Humanities.

Please see the website for more detailed information.

Can science and religion coexist? Should Christians be afraid of Darwin or scientists afraid of Christ? We will tackle these and other provocative questions in a webinar with two dynamic professors who are currently fellows at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton.

Don’t miss this intriguing presentation!

Part 1: What is Theology & What is Evolution—with an eye towards clarifying misconceptions and enhancing thoughtful reflection.
Part 2: Why are some Christians afraid of Darwin and why are some scientists afraid of Christ?
Part 3: How can we get it right? A discussion on human nature and the interface between faith, knowledge, and the quest for understanding.

LEADERS:

Dr. Conor Cunningham is a specialist in Darwinism, evolution, metaphysics, and systematic theology. He is assistant director of the Centre of Theology and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham, England, author of Darwin’s Pious Idea, and wrote and presented the acclaimed BBC documentary Did Darwin Kill God?.

Dr. Agustín Fuentes is an American primatologist and biological anthropologist whose work focuses largely on human and non-human primate interaction, pathogen transfer, communication, cooperation, and human social evolution. He is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame, author of Evolution and Human Behavior, and Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths about Human Nature.

This webinar is co-sponsored by the School of Christian Vocation and Mission at Princeton Theological Seminary and the Center of Theological Inquiry, with support from the Lilly Endowment and the John Templeton Foundation. Registration for this webinar is free. Please see website for more information.

THE REID ROOM, Philosophy, School of Humanities, 69 Oakfield Avenue (except where otherwise noted)

This programme is sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy, of which Glasgow is a branch, and whose support is gratefully acknowledged. Everyone is welcome; students, both postgrads and undergrads, are especially encouraged.

Second semester, 2012-13

08 January — Robert Williams (Leeds): “Decision making under indeterminacy”
15 January — Brian McElvee (St Andrews): “Vividness and the Relativism of Blame”
22 January — Gerald Lang (Leeds): “Theodicy and the Non-Identity Problem”
29 January — Ken Himma (Seattle Pacific U.): “A justification for the legal protection of intellectual property: the argument from investment”
05 February — Mikael Pettersson (Stockholm/Sheffield) “Negative Images: On Photography, Causation and Absences”
12 February — Julien Deonna (Geneva) /Fabrice Teroni (Bern): “Emotions as attitudes”
19 February — NO SEMINAR (hons reading party)
26 February — Marcia Baron (St Andrews) “Reasonableness”
05 March — Chris Hookway
12 March — Ulrike Heuer (Leeds)
19 March — William Mander (Oxford)
16 April — Neil Sinclair (Nottingham)
23 April — TBA
30 April — Simon Kirchin (Kent)
07 May — TBA
14 May — Neil Sinhababu (National University of Singapore)
21 May — TBA
28 May — Philip Meadows

A Series of Lectures by Myriam Bienenstock, Department of Philosophy, University François Rabelais at Tours (France)

Lecture 1: The French Connection, Wednesday, April 10, 5 p.m.
Lecture 2: The German Connection, Wednesday, April 17, 5 p.m.
Lecture 3: The Jewish Connection, Wednesday, April 24, 5 p.m.

This series of lectures is cosponsored by the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies.

The Boston University Institute for Philosophy & Religion was established in 1969/1970 to explore major issues in philosophy, theology, religion, and the humanities through lectures, colloquia, research projects, and publications. The programs are designed to transcend disciplinary divisions between religious and philosophical inquiry. The institute is an academic unit of the Boston University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and is cosponsored by the School of Theology, the Department of Religion, and the Department of Philosophy. Funding for this year’s lecture series has been generously provided by the Boston University Center for the Humanities.

Please see the website for more detailed information.

THE REID ROOM, Philosophy, School of Humanities, 69 Oakfield Avenue (except where otherwise noted)

This programme is sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy, of which Glasgow is a branch, and whose support is gratefully acknowledged. Everyone is welcome; students, both postgrads and undergrads, are especially encouraged.

Second semester, 2012-13

08 January — Robert Williams (Leeds): “Decision making under indeterminacy”
15 January — Brian McElvee (St Andrews): “Vividness and the Relativism of Blame”
22 January — Gerald Lang (Leeds): “Theodicy and the Non-Identity Problem”
29 January — Ken Himma (Seattle Pacific U.): “A justification for the legal protection of intellectual property: the argument from investment”
05 February — Mikael Pettersson (Stockholm/Sheffield) “Negative Images: On Photography, Causation and Absences”
12 February — Julien Deonna (Geneva) /Fabrice Teroni (Bern): “Emotions as attitudes”
19 February — NO SEMINAR (hons reading party)
26 February — Marcia Baron (St Andrews) “Reasonableness”
05 March — Chris Hookway
12 March — Ulrike Heuer (Leeds)
19 March — William Mander (Oxford)
16 April — Neil Sinclair (Nottingham)
23 April — TBA
30 April — Simon Kirchin (Kent)
07 May — TBA
14 May — Neil Sinhababu (National University of Singapore)
21 May — TBA
28 May — Philip Meadows

“Suppose we went on a mission to Mars…

…and found a domed structure in which everything was set up just right for life to exist. The temperature, for example, was set around 70o F and the humidity was at 50%; moreover, there was an oxygen recycling system, an energy gathering system, and a whole system for the production of food. Put simply, the domed structure appeared to be a fully functioning biosphere. What conclusion would we draw from finding this structure? Would we draw the conclusion that it just happened to form by chance? Certainly not. Instead, we would unanimously conclude that it was designed by some intelligent being. Why would we draw this conclusion? Because an intelligent designer appears to be the only plausible explanation for the existence of the structure. That is, the only alternative explanation we can think of–that the structure was formed by some natural process–seems extremely unlikely. Of course, it is possible that, for example, through some volcanic eruption various metals and other compounds could have formed, and then separated out in just the right way to produce the “biosphere,” but such a scenario strikes us as extraordinarily unlikely, thus making this alternative explanation unbelievable.”

Robin Collins (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. He has graduate level training in theoretical physics and has written over thirty-five substantial articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics in philosophy of physics, philosophy of religion, and philosophy of mind. He is one the world’s leading experts on the fine-tuning of the cosmos for life and its philosophical and theological implications, and is currently finishing two books on the topic: one that carefully explicates the physics and cosmology behind claims of cosmic fine-tuning and one that carefully works through the potential implications of the fine-tuning evidence.