Number 20 - Spring 2013
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Department of Philosophy Noûsletter Number 20 - Spring 2013 No. 20 · Spring 2013 noûsletter Page 2 Table of Contents Student Awards ........................................................................... 31 Introduction ..................................................................................... 3 Peter Hare Department Citizenship Award ............. 31 Letter from the Chair .............................................................. 3 Hourani Award for the Best Essay in Ethics............ 31 Faculty of the Department of Philosophy ..................... 3 Hare Award for Best Overall Essay .............................. 32 Letter from the Director of Graduate Studies ............ 6 Perry Awards for Best Dissertation ............................. 32 In Remembrance ............................................................................ 7 2012 Steinberg Essay Prize Winners .......................... 32 Charles H. Lambros (1933—2012) ................................. 7 2011-2012 Whitman Scholarship Winner ............... 32 Paul Kurtz (1925—2012) .................................................... 7 The People Who Make It Possible ..................................... 33 Faculty Updates ........................................................................... 11 Alumni Updates ........................................................................... 35 Introducing Boyd Millar ..................................................... 11 Notes from our Alumni....................................................... 35 Faculty Interview: Lewis Powell ................................... 11 William Irwin’s Speech at the 2012 Graduation ... 38 Faculty Interview: William Baumer ............................. 16 Alumni Interview: Mark Spencer .................................. 41 Faculty Interview: James Beebe ..................................... 18 Alumni Interview: J. Stanley Yake ................................ 43 Current Philosophical Work ................................................. 20 Recent Events ............................................................................... 44 Ontology and Alzheimer’s Disease ............................... 20 2012 Hourani Lectures – Michael Smith ................... 44 Cyberwarfare ........................................................................... 21 Eleventh Capen Symposium ............................................ 45 Aesthetics .................................................................................. 22 Department Parties .............................................................. 45 UB Philosophy International ........................................... 22 Departmental Colloquia ..................................................... 45 More Faculty Updates ......................................................... 23 Logic Colloquia ....................................................................... 45 Faculty Reading Groups ..................................................... 24 Experimental Philosophy Conference ........................ 46 Staff Updates ................................................................................. 24 Student-Organized Talks ................................................... 46 Introducing Patricia Hahn................................................. 24 Other Colloquia and Symposia ....................................... 46 Staff Interview: Eileen MacNamara ............................. 25 Upcoming Events ........................................................................ 46 Department Updates ................................................................. 26 2013 Hourani Lectures – David Oderberg ............... 46 Family Updates ............................................................................ 27 International Chinese Philosophy ................................ 46 Student Updates .......................................................................... 27 Art and Philosophy Exhibition ....................................... 47 New Students of 2012 ......................................................... 27 Departmental Colloquia ..................................................... 47 Graduates of 2012 ................................................................. 28 Logic Colloquia ....................................................................... 47 Student Publications ............................................................ 28 Related Campus Colloquia Events ................................ 47 Friday Lecture Series ........................................................... 29 Donations ....................................................................................... 47 Student Reading Groups .................................................... 29 Contact Information.................................................................. 48 Student Interview: Emina Melonic ............................... 29 No. 20 · Spring 2013 noûsletter Page 3 Introduction project on the nature of propositions with three other prominent philosophers of language – Scott Soames, Phil King and Jeff Speakes. They were each going to Letter from the Chair write a quarter of the book, present their own view of It seems like only yesterday that I was writing the propositions and then critique the others’ accounts. I chair’s letter for the last Noûsletter. Much has am happy to be able to inform you that Mike has changed in the past year. In addition to the usual recovered and he and his wife are now running arrivals and departures of graduate students, there Tractus Education, a thriving business that provides have been staff retirements, faculty resignations, web-based applications that transform the college faculty hires, staff hires, and some retired professors search and application process for students, parents, have passed away. Well-known professor emeritus school counselors and administrators. Paul Kurtz died this past fall at the age of 86. Two Our long time administrator of undergraduate affairs, hundred people attended a campus memorial for him Eileen McNamara, put in enough time to retire. De- that our Theresa Monacelli somehow managed to spite departing mid-semester with the eagerness of a coordinate after a last-minute request from the Kurtz parolee, she has graciously returned on occasion to family. We have included a biographical sketch on p. help us out when in a jam and to train her replace- 7 that reveals far more about Paul than did the obitu- ment, Patricia (Patty) Hahn. Eileen somewhat reluc- aries published in the New York Times and Wall Street tantly agreed to an interview on p. 24 which I think Journal. A more recently retired colleague, Charles will bring a chuckle to those of you who knew her, Lambros, also passed away this year. We have dedi- which is probably most of you. If you were an under- cated this year’s department logic colloquium to graduate philosophy major at UB, you consulted Chuck and his obituary is reprinted on p. 7. Eileen. If you were a graduate student instructor, We had one other faculty member take premature your students’ problems meant you had to consult leave of us but, fortunately, he is still on the planet. Eileen. We wish her all the best. Michael McGlone, a promising young philosopher of We finally were able to hire a scholar of early modern mind and language, suffered a prolonged illness that philosophy. That search had been delayed for a num- eventually led him to choose to resign and move his ber of years due to New York’s dire financial condi- wife and kids closer to their extended family in Cali- tion. A many of you know, we once had two top notch fornia during his recovery. Mike had perhaps more scholars of early modern philosophy, Daisy Radner potential than anyone we hired in the last ten years. and Ken Barber. But Daisy’s retirement and Ken’s He obtained his Ph.D. from Princeton and was at death resulted in the department being without any work on a tenure-making, if not career-making book Faculty of the Department of Philosophy Baumer, William H. [email protected] Hershenov, David [email protected] Beebe, James [email protected] Kearns, John [email protected] Bittner, Thomas [email protected] Korsmeyer, Carolyn [email protected] Braun, David [email protected] Lawler, James [email protected] Cho, Kah-Kyung [email protected] Millar, Boyd [email protected] Cohen, Richard [email protected] Powell, Lewis [email protected] Dipert, Randall [email protected] Shockley, Kenneth [email protected] Donnelly, Maureen [email protected] Smith, Barry [email protected] Ehrenberg, Kenneth [email protected] Williams, Neil [email protected] Gracia, Jorge [email protected] Yu, Jiyuan [email protected] No. 20 · Spring 2013 noûsletter Page 4 expertise in early modern philosophy for a number of than any other. The recognition that the recent work years. That drought has ended with Lewis Powell of Donnelly and Williams has garnered, along with joining the faculty this past Fall. Lewis already had a the earlier metaphysical writings of Barry Smith, tenure track job at Wayne State University when we Randy Dipert and Jorge Gracia, make me rather took a page from George Steinbrenner’s NY Yankees hopeful that we will be ranked in metaphysics when and pursued him like a free agent rather than pro- the next Philosophical Gourmet Report comes out. The mote a freshly minted Ph.D. from the minor leagues. department is already ranked in the philosophy of You can get a good sense of Lewis’s philosophical language largely due to