Grant Lecture: Dr. Eric Chwang

Dr. Eric Chwang will presenting this year’s Grant Lecture, sponsored by the John F. Grant, MD, Endowment for the study of Health Care Ethics. [edit, 3/23: The title of the presentation has been updated.]

“Consent as Exclusively Mental”

Eric Chwang, MD, PhD

March 25, 2015

2:30-4:30 p.m.

Information Commons, 4th Floor


PRG Seminar This Week

PRG Casarez_Russo 3_19_15


Faculty Profile: Kristen Irwin

Dr. Kristen Irwin joined Loyola as Assistant Professor in Philosophy this past fall, and she has already been an active member of the Department. She offered a workshop last semester for graduate students regarding professionalization and organized the History of Philosophy Roundtable (HOPR), a series of workshops in which faculty and students can present their work in progress. Her faculty page is here: http://www.luc.edu/philosophy/kristenirwin/.

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AGSP:    Hi, thank you for agreeing to this interview! Though still only in your first year at Loyola, you have been contributing significantly to the climate and activity of the Department. We, the graduate students, are grateful for your active participation, and for this opportunity to get to know you better. Let’s start with your research interests: your faculty page indicates your interest in 17th and 18th century philosophy and your current work on Locke and Bayle. Would you care to elaborate on your interests?

KI:          I am especially interested in 17th century philosophy. The vision of philosophy at that time was very big and systematic—attempting to present a unified whole, which is in contrast to the way contemporary philosophy tends to be compartmentalized into its various subdisciplines and topics. I liked that thinkers of that time combined rigor with both a deep and a wide scope of inquiry; they dabbled in every area.

AGSP:    So those are the broad strokes, but what are you working on now?

KI:          Currently I have five “balls in the air”—projects in progress: Leibniz on religious toleration; Pierre Bayle on moral knowledge (which I will be presenting to the American Society for 18th Century Studies and at HOPR); Locke’s religious epistemology; an Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on Bayle; and Locke and Bayle on religious toleration, which I used for my job talk last year and am fine-tuning. These smaller projects are all related to two big projects which are my current long-term goals: a monograph on Bayle which treats him as an interesting philosopher in his own right, and not just as an interlocutor for more well-known figures; and a survey of arguments for religious toleration from the 17th century. (Though Bayle is included in this latter work as well, I am considering both the variety of conceptions of what constitutes religious toleration and the variety of grounds or reasons for advocating for toleration.)

Pierre Bayle

AGSP:    I can see how these larger projects run through and unify the others. Interesting issues! How did you come to be interested in philosophy and in 17th century philosophy in particular? Who or what were your influences?

KI:          Well, dumb luck plays a large role in my story! I initially wanted to be a lawyer, but at my undergraduate institution there was no pre-law major, so my options were political science and philosophy. I didn’t enjoy political science, so I majored in philosophy. Between my sophomore and junior years, I interned for a law firm, which was really informative. It wasn’t that I didn’t like what they did; it was that I didn’t want to become that kind of person. So I decided to stay with philosophy.

I got into a Ph.D. program with full funding (UC-San Diego), which was known for its strengths in philosophy of mind. I had a French minor already, and Don Rutherford was a well-regarded scholar, so I decided to focus on the history of modern philosophy. Don was tough but kind, and I respected his work ethic and intellect. Initially I was interested in Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, but Don taught me to see how interesting the 17th century was and how holistic its concerns were. I am still interested in Kant, and particularly in his notion of epistemic humility, which I think is closely related to skepticism of various kinds. Kant emphasized that there are limits to reason; this is something that I think most philosophers today agree on, though we disagree on what these limits are. This is an especially important issue to me because, in my experience, philosophers are particularly susceptible to epistemic pride!

AGSP:    Thanks for that intellectual biography. Perhaps you could share more of your personal biography—how did you come to Loyola?

KI:          In Fall 2008, I entered the job market. I applied to eighty jobs. It was a trying ordeal, and included some of the types of experiences reported on the blog, “What Is It Like to Be a Woman in Philosophy?” (https://beingawomaninphilosophy.wordpress.com/). I didn’t exactly recognize how difficult the experience was at the time—I had just gotten engaged and was fresh from graduate school, so it wasn’t until I had some reflective distance that I realized just how difficult and often inappropriate parts of that process were. I did obtain a tenure-track position at Biola University, where I made very good friends. I had started a quarterly women’s philosophy night in graduate school, and so I continued this focus at Biola by starting up a “Professor Mommy” reading and discussion group.  In addition to reading “Professor Mommy,” we brought in guest speakers and discussed strategies for how to flourish amidst the many commitments and dimensions of work and life.

The position at Biola required a 4-4 teaching load, which I enjoyed, but which really squeezed my time for research. In Fall 2013, I submitted ten job applications, and it was a very different experience already having a job! I was in a less perilous position and experienced less desperation; it was a much healthier process. I also had a realization that life would be okay even if I didn’t have a job in philosophy. I would still be able to follow other passions, like possibly work for a non-profit fighting human trafficking—something that may pay less but which would both benefit both me and the organization. I did, however, end up getting this position at Loyola.

AGSP:    Speaking of the trials of job searches… You have taken an active interest in providing resources for professional development for students. A somewhat common experience among graduate students in philosophy, it seems, is a certain disillusionment when the romantic ideals of the contemplative life, or of philosophy as an engaged way of life, is confronted by the contemporary reality of professional, academic philosophy. Do you think there is anything to the distinction between philosophy as a profession and philosophy as a passion?

KI:          Oh yes. Some of the most cynical philosophers I have met were also initially some of the most idealistic. Academia is less romantic than we think, but it is a job. Being a professional is an aspect of life for anyone in white collar positions in the 21st century; higher education is not exempt. But this is not *necessarily* a bad thing. You can think about how to be professional without betraying who you are.

My experience on the job market informed my view of professionalization both positively and negatively. Positively, when I was entering the job market for the first time, UCSD provided a “job market shepherd,” someone who attended the APA (American Philosophical Association, where many job interviews take place) to support us applicants, and who helped us cope with and survive the process. I noticed along the way that there were norms associated with the job market that I was expected to follow, but which had not been made explicit. I guess the idea was to learn them through osmosis, which is not an optimal way to do it!  Thus, negatively, I learned that the discipline needs to be better about making the expectations and norms of the process more explicit. People come from very different backgrounds, and just because someone is passionate about philosophy doesn’t mean that they are prepared for or familiar with the professional expectations of the discipline.

AGSP:    So do you have any advice for passionate philosophers also aspiring to be professionals?

KI:          Well, the big thing is to figure out who you are and how to communicate that to others. You don’t have to change your passions, but you do want to present a more polished version of who you already are. This is a techne, a skill you learn. You have to practice it in order to get better.

AGSP:    Let’s switch gears and talk about your non-philosophical interests. What do you like to do when you’re not doing research, teaching classes, or fulfilling professional obligations?

KI:          Well, I don’t have as much time for hobbies as I used to! But I have competed in triathlons, and I’m considering entering the Chicago triathlon in August. I enjoy cycling and running, and I do yoga twice a week. I enjoy the outdoors—I miss the beach, and being able to watch the sun set over the water.

San Diego Beach

I also have an almost-five-year-old son, Adam. On the “introvert/extrovert” spectrum, Adam is an “übervert”!  Every day on the train we make a new friend. He’s very cheerful and energetic, and I really enjoy him.

AGSP:    That’s excellent! Any final thoughts, anything you want everyone to know that we haven’t discussed?

KI:          Just that I have an open door policy. If anyone has any questions for me, especially about professionalization (or 17th century philosophy), please come see me!

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DePaul Graduate Student Conference 2015


Inaugural HOPR Session

Loyola’s History of Philosophy Roundtable (HOPR) kicks off its series of talks this spring on Friday, March 13, at 3:45 p.m. in Crown 530. This Friday, Jason Rheins will present “No Design without a World-soul: Plato’s Panpsychic Solution to the Presocratics’ ‘Implementation of Intellect’ Problem.”

Upcoming sessions of HOPR are already scheduled for March 27 (Peter Hartman, “Cognition and Causation: Ockham and Buridan on Content”) and April 10 (Kristen Irwin, “The Implications of Bayle’s Qualified Academic Skepticism for Conscience, Moral Knowledge, and Toleration”).

For more information about HOPR, or to be added to the HOPR email listserv, contact Kristen Irwin at kirwin@luc.edu.


More Upcoming Colloquia

On Friday, February 27, Dr. Erica Tucker (Marquette) will be presenting on “The Role of the ‘Multitude’ in Spinoza’s Political Philosophy,” at 1:30 p.m. in Mundelein 608. In preparation, the Metaethics Reading Group is reading some of Dr. Tucker’s work on normativity and discussing it prior to the presentation. For more details, please contact David Atenasio at datenasio@luc.edu.

Then, on Wednesday, March 4, the Phenomenology Research Group is sponsoring a double feature:

Cuneo 111, 2:30 – 5:00
2:30
“Intentionality and Constitution in Merleau-Ponty’s Late Work”
Dimitris Apostolopoulos (Notre Dame)

4:00
“Racism at the Level of Passive Synthesis”
Dr. Harry Nethery (Florida Southern College)


Undergraduate Workshop Presentations

Two of Loyola’s undergraduates are presenting their philosophical work this week. Come engage their research on Thursday, February 26, beginning at 6:00 p.m. in Crown Center 142.

Keagan Potts, “Shaping Our World: Knowing How Best to Act”

Steve Yandell, “The Problem at Hand: Deciding Cases of Simultaneous and Exclusionary Peril”

Refreshments will be provided, and the presentations will be followed by a Philosophy Club Information Session.


This Week: Brady Lecture Series

BRADY LECTURE SERIES
 ETHICS AND CIVIC LIFE
 
“Human Freedom and Nature – A Kantian Engagement”
 
 
Please join us for a series of three lectures by 
 
Brady Distinguished Visiting Professor, Helga Varden
 
 
Monday, February 23  
The Terrorist Attacks In Norway, July 22, 2011 
 
Thursday, February 26  
 Kant on Legal Responsibility for Animals
 
Monday, March 2  
A Kantian Theory of Sexual Love
 
 
All lectures 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. 
John Evans Alumni Center
1800 Sheridan Road
 
 
Professor Helga Varden received her education in Norway, England, and Canada. Since obtaining her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Toronto in 2006, she has been at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she holds appointments in the Departments of Philosophy and Gender and Women’s Studies. In addition, she has been a guest lecturer at the University of Oslo, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and the European Academy of Legal Theory (Belgium) as well as a visiting fellow at the University of St. Andrews. She has received several prizes for her teaching and her research as well as fellowships supporting her research in, primarily, legal-political philosophy. 

Faculty Profile: Joy Gordon

This spring Dr. Joy Gordon joined Loyola as the Ignacio Ellacuria, S.J. Professor of Social Ethics. Her faculty page is here. AGSP asked Dr. Gordon a few questions to get to know our newest faculty member.

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AGSP:    Welcome to Loyola Chicago! We’re certainly glad to have you here, and we’re equally grateful for your participation in our series of faculty profiles. So what brought you to Loyola University Chicago?

JG:         I had heard wonderful things about the LUC Philosophy Department for many years. Two of my colleagues at Fairfield received their Ph.D. here and had nothing but glowing things to say about the faculty and students in the department.  I taught at Fairfield University for nearly twenty years, and while I really enjoyed it a lot, it’s very exciting for me to be in a department with a graduate program, and strong support for research. (more…)


History of (Western) Philosophy Graphic

Forwarded from Roslyn Wilson, enjoy:

History of Philosophy
Source: SuperScholar.org/


Faculty Profile: Mark Waymack

Thanks to those who visit this blog. We hope it is a reliable source of information about the Philosophy program here at Loyola, events, student successes, and so on. In an effort to diversify our content while continuing to be informative, we are going to experiment with a new series profiling the philosophy faculty at our institution. This is the first of four planned for this spring, after which we will evaluate the project. So please feel free to leave your feedback in the comments or e-mail the Association of Graduate Students of Philosophy (AGSP) webmaster, Corbin Casarez (ccasarez@luc.edu).

Dr. Mark Waymack has charitably agreed to be the first in this series. He is an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.  For his official Loyola web page, visit http://www.luc.edu/philosophy/faculty_waymack.shtml.

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AGSP:    Dr. Waymack, we’re really grateful that you have agreed to be our “guinea pig,” if you will, and be the first in what we hope to be an ongoing series. Let’s start with your intellectual biography: how did you come to philosophy, who or what were your influences, etc.

MW:     I was captivated by Philosophy in my freshman year of college. But because of interest as well as practicality, I also loaded up on Economics courses, winding up one class short of a double major. I did spend my junior year at the University of Edinburgh, which would have a lasting effect on my interests.

After graduating with the BA, I was still ambivalent about the risk of Philosophy as a career, so I went to the University of Exeter to do an MA in Moral Philosophy by thesis and exam. This gave me a chance to write a thesis and try out graduate work in Philosophy. I loved it, so I returned to the U.S. to do the Ph.D. at The Johns Hopkins University.

At Hopkins I did a lot of grad seminars in Classics and embarked on a dissertation in Plato’s ethics, but I had a nasty falling out with my director. Ugh. So reaching back to my year at Edinburgh, I skipped a couple of millennia and delved into a dissertation on 18th century Scottish moral philosophy.

Dissertating, as graduate students discover, can be a lonely sport, and somewhat disconnected from everyday life. So while I was writing the second half of the dissertation, I wrangled my way into a relationship with the University of Maryland School of Medicine, particularly the Department of Family Medicine. Just before coming to Loyola, I split my time between the Philosophy Department at University of Maryland Baltimore County and the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. The medical connection led to an article on ethics and geriatric medicine, and that evolved into a book on medical ethics and the elderly.

Once here in Chicago, I spent many years working with projects on the elderly, including nursing home work, as well as some 16 years doing various things with Children’s Memorial Hospital (primarily as a clinical ethics advisor and then as a member of the IRB).

AGSP:    So what brought you to Loyola University Chicago?

MW:     I joined Loyola in 1987, shortly after earning the PhD. I had done a dissertation in the history of ethics, but had developed a keen interest in applied ethics, especially bioethics. I guess you could say that ethics was my driving passion in philosophy. Loyola University was one of the few Philosophy Departments at that time that was truly committed to both ethical theory and what we called applied ethics. So that Jesuit commitment to ethics and justice as an institution winds up being a big part of why I wound up here at LUC. Applied ethics is now far more widely accepted and valued than it was in 1978, but LUC still holds a significant commitment to values teaching and inquiry, more so than many universities.

Justice Guy image

AGSP:    Tell us a bit about your primary areas of research.

MW:     My research has always been ethics. But it has been split between history of ethics, both about Plato and especially the 18th century, as well as applied ethics concerns.

With regards to the history of ethics, I have had a particular interest in how past philosophers understood what it meant to do moral philosophy. What exactly is the subject matter, and what is the appropriate methodology? For example, in the 18th century there was a concerted move to try to approach moral philosophy as analogous to the empirical sciences. Ethical theory should then be based upon “evidence” and should be cleanly intellectually organized, almost like Newtonian Physics. What then becomes of the relationship between the “is” and the “ought”?

As for the applied field, I have worked on a variety of projects in medical ethics and philosophy of medicine, including justice questions and clinical questions. But I have most consistently been interested in issues of ethics and aging, with medical and social issues in mind.

AGSP:    What is it like serving as Chair of the Department of Philosophy?

MW:     I quite like teaching, especially these days since I get to do so little of it. Most of my time at work is now spent in the role as Chairperson. There is lots that I quite dislike about that job—the spreadsheets, the endless reports, etc. On the other hand, it is a chance to do what I can to help nurture the department as a whole. So with my very limited power and resources, I try to figure out how I can best sustain morale and promote the kinds of commitment and activities that keep the department thriving and happy.

AGSP:    Thanks for your honesty. It is easy to imagine that interacting with students is more frequently rewarding than the everyday duties of serving as Chairperson, so let’s focus on teaching for a moment. What is the most important thing that you hope students take away from your classes?

MW:     For a recent Introductory course I taught (PHIL 181: Ethics), one student complained in the evaluations that I asked too many questions and did not lecture enough. My response when I read that was that I had messed up somehow—not that I had asked too many questions, but that somehow that particular student just didn’t get what my central aim for the course was. For those Core courses, I try to sensitize students to the variety of ethical challenges that they may face in their lives, and then to get them to appreciate how some philosophical skills can help them work their way through those challenges. That requires some “content,” of course, but it also requires some active commitment and practice on the part of the student.

The 300-level courses are, of course, a different sort of thing. Here undergraduates get to see what delving more deeply into an academic discipline can look like. And they get to stretch themselves in ways that they have not been intellectually challenged prior to becoming a Philosophy Major (or Minor).

Graduate education is, of course, much more about professionalization. Yes, there is a lot of subject matter to master, but there is also the crucially important goal of leading graduate students into truly appreciating scholarship and critical thought.

AGSP:    Let’s shift gears—how do you like to spend your time when you’re not doing philosophy (or filling out spreadsheets and reports)?

MW:     Well, there are those two books (and a few articles) in what we might call “applied aesthetics.” By that I mean the book on Scotch whisky and the one on Bourbon. And yes, I occasionally make wine, beer, and cider at home.

A label Dr. Waymack designed for one of his home-brewed beverages:

Hume label_Page_1 (2)

But I did pick up bagpipe lessons starting five years ago, and I try to spend about five hours a week working at that. It’s exercise, it’s relaxing, but it still requires some brain-work. And yes, most summers I now attend about five Highland festivals and participate in the solo bagpiping competitions.

AGSP:    Your home brews are quite popular at Department events, and we got to enjoy the sounds of the bagpipes floating over Lake Michigan at the beginning of the year barbecue. Thanks for sharing your skills with us! Thanks also for your time to help initiate our series of faculty profiles by answering these questions. In conclusion, what is one thing that you wish everyone knew about you?

MW:     I do wear many hats, so I am not certain there is much that I really want “everyone” to know about me!

I did grow up in the 1960s in the South. So my speech cadence can be a bit slower than is the norm around here, which sometimes unsettles people talking to me. I am not one prone to filling space with a constant stream of chit chat; so I am comfortable with stretches of quiet, which also unsettles some people. And I am generally not inclined to dictate judgment to other people. There are few things in life less well-received than unsolicited advice.

Unfortunately, those character traits are sometimes read as signs of arrogance or aloofness, which I don’t think is the “real” me.

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Special Event!

Join us for a two-part event this Wednesday, January 14, sponsored by the Philosophy Department at Loyola University Chicago. The entire event will take place in Crown Center 530.

Part I, 3:00-4:30 p.m.: A Conversation with Kyle Thomsen

Kyle is a recent graduate from the Ph.D. program, and he will answer questions about job placements, the interviewing process, and life after graduation. All graduate students are encouraged to attend.

Part II, 4:30-7:00 p.m.: Happy Hour

Dr. Thomsen will join us for a department social. Drinks and snacks will be provided. All faculty and graduate students are welcome.


Spring 2015 Activity Groups

Happy New Year!

Here is a list of groups that people have mentioned are planning to run this semester. If you know of any others, please feel free to pass them along!

-French Translation Group (Merleau-Ponty’s SIGNES)
Contact Corbin at ccasarez@luc.edu

-Metaethics Reading Group (various articles)
Contact Dave at datenasio@luc.edu

-Hermeneutics Reading Group (Bernstein’s BEYOND OBJECTIVISM AND RELATIVISM)
Contact Allan at allanbreedlove@gmail.com

-Heidegger Reading Group (BEING AND TIME, perhaps some later essays)
Contact Corbin at ccasarez@luc.edu

-Writing Group
Contact Rebecca at rscott@luc.edu

If you are interested in a German Translation Group or an Instructors’ Support Group (where grad students who are teaching can share ideas, discuss challenges, and develop their portfolios–perhaps meeting every 2-3 weeks), contact Corbin at ccasarez@luc.edu. There are no plans currently to run these groups unless enough interest is indicated.


Looking to the New Year…

Fall 2014 is finished–congrats for making it through a little wiser!

New events and content are coming in 2015. In the meantime, start thinking about the activities you would like to see take place during the spring term. If you have an idea for a reading or translation group, or some other activity, please e-mail Corbin at ccasarez@luc.edu.


The Finals Push

Just two weeks left until Finals! It has been a good semester of colloquia, workshops, service, and activity. Thanks to all for their hard work and participation!

Good luck to everyone as they wind down the term and look forward to the break. In your “spare” time, if you have suggestions for reading groups or other activities for the spring, please contact Corbin Casarez at ccasarez@luc.edu so he can compile a list and advertise the opportunities in January.