Undergrad Philosophy Conference in North Carolina

With finals approaching, you no doubt have philosophy papers you’re working on.  Well, you might think of eventually submitting one of your papers to an undergrad conference.  Here looks like an especially good one.  (To check out the other conferences we’ve posted, click on the CALL FOR PAPERS category on the right.  Many of them have deadlines that still haven’t passed.)

Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
April 17-18, 2010
Keynote address by Dr. Martha Nussbaum
(University of Chicago)
CALL FOR PAPERS

Submission guidelines:

Undergraduates are encouraged to submit philosophy papers on any
topic.  Submissions may be no longer than 4000 words and must be
emailed to ugconference2010_at_gmail.com by Sunday, February 14.

Submission should be prepared for blind refereeing but should include
a cover sheet with the following information:

1.      Full Name
2.      Name of University
3.      Mailing Address
4.      Email address
5.      The Paper’s Title
6.      An abstract (150 words maximum)
7.      Word count of submission
Email a copy of your paper, as an attachment, in Microsoft Word, Rich
Text Format, or Adobe Portable Document Format to 
 ugconference2010_at_gmail.com.  Title your document: LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME.
Notification of acceptance will be sent out early March.  Authors who
cannot be contacted via email will be rejected.  Some travel funding
may be available for accepted authors whose own University is unable
to assist.
Co-Sponsored by the Carolina Philosophy Club, the North Carolina Eta
Chapter of Phi Sigma Tau, and the Department of Philosophy at UNC-
Chapel Hill.

Writing Excellence Contest 2009

If you have any papers that you feel especially proud of and that you have submitted for a course at Puget Sound during 2009, you should make sure to submit them for the Writing Excellence Contest.  Here are the details:

Papers written as part of the requirement for courses taken at the University of Puget Sound during spring, summer, or fall of 2009 are eligible.  Papers of any length may be submitted; short papers are as likely to win as long ones.  A total of nine prizes ($250.00 each) will be awarded:  two prizes in each category–Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences and Mathematics–and one prize each for Freshman Seminars, Connections, and Graduate Programs.

 Students may submit no more than one paper in each category, and each paper must be accompanied by a description of the assignment and an entry form.  (Entry forms are available in the Center for Writing, Learning, and Teaching, HO 105/109 and at www.ups.edu/writingexcellenceawards.xml.)  Students should submit the original paper with the professor’s comments, or a photocopy of it, to the Center for Writing, Learning, and Teaching by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 28, 2010.  We are unable to accept papers submitted after this deadline.

 If you have any questions about the process or the prizes, please call Julie Neff-Lippman at x2696 or e-mail neff -at- ups.edu.

Call for Papers: SUNY Oneonta Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

SUNY Oneonta Undergraduate Philosophy Conference
April 15-17, 2010

The faculty and students of SUNY Oneonta are pleased to announce
our 15th annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference.

Undergraduate students are encouraged to submit papers on any philosophical topic or period.

Submissions are due January 22, 2010.

Click here for additional information.

The four best papers will receive President’s Awards.  Additional awards are available for the best papers in Philosophy of Science as well as Asian and Comparative Philosophy.

Call for Papers: Undergraduate Conference at the College of New Jersey

An Undergraduate Philosophy Conference will be held at The College of New Jersey on February 27th, 2010. Papers in all areas of philosophy are welcome, and should be suitable for presentation in twenty to twenty-five minutes’ reading time. Students who are interested in serving as paper commentators should contact Professor Taylor at the email address below. 

The Keynote Speaker will be Jesse Prinz, the John J. Rogers Distinguished Professor, Department of Philosophy University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Deadline for submissions: Friday, December 11, 2009.

Please send submissions by email attachment to Mrs. Joanne Cantor, Departmental Secretary, at jcantor-at-tcnj.edu or in hard copy to Professor Taylor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, The College of New Jersey, PO Box 7718, Ewing, NJ 08628-0718.

Please address inquiries to Professor Taylor at jtaylor-at-tcnj.edu

Call for papers: PHILOMATHIA – University of Utah’s Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy

CALL FOR UNDERGRADUATE PAPERS PHILOMATHIA – University of Utah’s Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy is now accepting submissions for the spring 2010 issue. Papers of 7,000 words or less in any area of philosophy are welcome.

SUBMIT BY: December 11, 2009 For more details, including a pdf of submission requirements, click here.

Cornel West in Seattle

This Wednesday, 11/18, the philosopher Cornel West is going to be in Seattle to talk about his new memoir, Brother West.   He’ll be at the Barnes & Noble in University Village (2675 NE University Village Street, Seattle, WA, 98105) starting at 7:00 p.m.  You’ll remember West from the film Examined Life.  Here’s another interview with him.

Philosophy Movie Night: Wittgenstein

The Philosophy Department is going to show another movie next week.  Here’s the relevant information…

Movie: Wittgenstein

When: Tuesday, November 17th, at 7:00 p.m.

Where: Wyatt 109

Info: The movie is a kind of “filmed play” about the life of Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century, and someone who lived a pretty fascinating life.  It was directed by Derek Jarman and written by Terry Eagleton.

Discussion: Immediately afterward.

Here’s an article on Wittgenstein (written by the philosopher Daniel Dennett) for Time Magazine’s list of the 100 great thinkers of the 20th century…http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/wittgenstein.html

And here’s a clip from the Wittgenstein movie, just to give you a sense for what you’re in for…

Call for Papers: 7th Annual Intermountain West Student Philosophy Conference

7th Annual Intermountain West Student Philosophy Conference; To take place at the University of Utah; Featuring Darrel Moellendorf of San Diego State University as Keynote Speaker ——

Call For Papers: IWSPC 2010 –  March 11-13, 2010

Paper Submissions Due: Jan 10th 2010.  Papers can be on any philosophical topic.  Requirements (in your email to IWSPC):

[1] Word count (3,000 word limit);
[2] Presentation title;
[3] Abstract of no more than 100 words;
[4] Author’s name;
[5] Academic status (Graduate or undergraduate student);
[6] Areas of philosophical interest;
[7] Academic Affiliation (College or University name and Dept.);
[8] Email address;
[9] Telephone number;
[10] Attached paper must be in .doc format and be prepared for blind review; and
[11] Mailing address.

Send submissions and/or questions to IWSPC2010 -at- gmail.com

Call for Papers: 3rd Annual Appalachian Regional Student Philosophy Colloquium

CALL FOR UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE PAPERS

The Philosophy Department and the Philosophy Club at East Tennessee State University present 3rd Annual Appalachian Regional Student Philosophy Colloquium East Tennessee State University

Date: March 26 – 27, 2010

Keynote speaker: Dr. David Hilbert of University of Illinois at Chicago; philosopher of mind, perception and color

Papers are now being accepted for both undergraduate and graduate presentations. All papers will be evaluated by blind review process. At the conference, the Keynote speaker will choose the best presentation from the undergraduate and graduate categories, awarding a $50 prize for each. A limited number of hotel accommodations may be available at a discounted price.

Papers on any philosophical topic are welcome. Papers should be approximately 10 pages, or 20 minutes presentation time. The papers should not contain any identifying information, as they will be evaluated by blind review. Abstracts should be one paragraph, approximately 150 words, double spaced, and should be attached to the paper. The abstracts should not contain any identifying information. Cover Sheets should be on a separate sheet, and should contain the author’s name, the title of the paper, institutional affiliation, address, phone number, and e-mail address.

The deadline for papers submitted electronically is February 19th, 2010. Papers submitted as hard copy must be postmarked by February 15th, 2010. Notification of acceptance will occur by February 26th, 2010.

Please send submissions to, or request further information from: etsuphilosophyconf_at_gmail.com

Is it better to be a Socrates disatisfied or a satisfied Homer Simpson?

In another of the New York Times editorials on “Happy Days,” Paul Bloom (Yale Psychology Professor and author of Descartes Baby: How the Science of Child Development Explains What Makes Us Human) ponders on the famous passage from Chapter 2 of Mill’s Utilitarianism: “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be a Socrates disatisfied than a fool satisfied.”  The article starts as follows:

Is it better to be a happy pig or sad Socrates? How should one choose between happiness and other values, such as wisdom, morality, and piety? You have an angel on one shoulder, the devil on the other — who do you listen to?

One of the insights of modern happiness research is that these are questions we often don’t have to answer. While happiness can clash with other ideals, the surprising finding is how often they go together. One usually doesn’t have to decide, for instance, whether to be happy or to be good. We are constituted so that simple acts of kindness, such as giving to charity or expressing gratitude, have a positive effect on our long-term moods. The key to the happy life, it seems, is the good life, a life with sustained relationships, challenging work, and connections to community. You can be happy Socrates.

But what about short-term pleasures, like eating cake, drinking beer, or having sex? Here there is often a clash. These feel good, but if your long-term goals have to do with dieting, sobriety or chastity, you might regret them later. So there is a different dilemma: Do you live a good and happy life or do you satisfy your immediate appetites? Is it better to be Happy Socrates or Happy Homer Simpson? …

Read the rest of it here.