Food for Thought

SHOULD ATHLETES BE ALLOWED TO DOPE?

An afternoon of discussion and free pizza in the Philosophy Department, led by Professor Cody Gilmore.

When: 3:10 to 5:00 on Friday, February 8, 2013

Where: Philosophy department library, 1231 SSH  (3rd and A)

Past Food For Thought events:

CULTURAL RELATIVISM AND THE PROBLEM OF INTOLERANT CULTURES

An afternoon of discussion and free pizza in the Philosophy Department, led by Professor David Copp.

There are significant moral disagreements between people of different cultures.  We might think that our ethical ideas reflect nothing more than our culture.  This thought can lead us to the conclusion that the moral frameworks of different cultures are “equally valid”.  It can then take us to the further conclusion that we ought to be tolerant of behavior and beliefs that reflect moral cultures different from our own.  The conclusion that we ought to be tolerant is much too simple.  The existence of cultural disagreement cannot immunize the world from culturally sanctioned viciousness.  The real issue is how to respond to moral disagreement in an intellectually informed and morally sensitive way.

When: 3:10 to 5:00 on Friday, October 19, 2012

Where: Philosophy department library, 1231 SSH  (3rd and A.)

IS TRUTH RELEVANT TO SCIENCE?

led by Professor Emeritus Paul Teller

Traditionally we think of science as seeking – and finding! - the exactly correct, universal laws of nature.  This lecture will trace how this terrible misconception of science arose, how it has misdescribed science from the very beginning, and how it is finally coming unraveled.

When: 3:10 to 5:00 on Friday, April 20, 2012

MINDS, BRAINS, and COMPUTERS

discussion led by Professor Bernard Molyneux

Humans are thought to be the only beings that are both highly intelligent and capable of having conscious experiences. But this belief has been challenged by movies such as The Matrix, by increasingly sophisticated computers and robots, by studies in neuroscience, and by philosophers.

When: 3:10 to 5:00 on Friday, Sept 30, 2011.

Where: Philosophy department library, Room 1231, SSH (in the Death Star at 3rd and A.)