1 Oberlin Philosophy Summer 2013, Volume 3 News from Alumni A Note from the Editor Many thanks to those of you who liked by Katherine !omson-Jones our Facebook page. Keep your own com- ments coming! (On Facebook, simply s we come to the end of another full and rewarding academic year, it is time search for Oberlin Philosophy). If you’re to take stock and reconnect. !ank you to all the alumni who have sent in not a Facebook fan but would like to share Atheir news; it is wonderful to hear about everything that life a"er Oberlin news, please email the newsletter editor: has to o#er. [email protected]. In department news, our course selection for the year was nicely balanced both in terms of level and subject matter. We o#ered three of our standard introduc- Kurt Beals ’02 completed his PhD in tory courses—two with a focus on value questions as well as several sections of German literature at the University of Problems in Philosophy. !e college’s First-Year Seminar Program also introduced California, Berkeley, and will be starting some students to philosophy, thanks to Dorit Ganson’s course on Rationality, a job as assistant professor of German at Objectivity, and Truth in Science. !e department o#ered two courses in logic, one Washington University in St. Louis in the in formal and one in informal logic; and, three courses in the history of philoso- fall. phy—modern philosophy, 19th-century philosophy, and 20th-century Continental philosophy. Our other core courses were in the philosophy of science, the philoso- Karen Bennett ’93 writes: “I am an as- phy of language, biomedical ethics, the philosophy of law, philosophy of mind, sociate professor of philosophy at Cornell, and the philosophy of music. Finally, we o#ered two advanced seminars, one on though going up for full professor next year. perception and one on representation in science. In 2012-13, I worked on two big projects: 1) !e importance of a full and varied course selection is now even greater due my book, Making !ings Up, which is under to changes in the philosophy major that follow a college-wide change to the contract with Oxford University Press, and course-credit system. In an e#ort to support and encourage the combination of 2) my daughter, Lila, who was born in May philosophy with other majors, students can now choose a particular focus for 2012. Both are interesting, but Lila is prob- their philosophy degree course—by taking more philosophy courses dealing with ably more fun. She is certainly messier.” value questions and the arts, for instance, or more philosophy courses deal- continued on page 2 Don Baxter ’76 is completing his $rst year as philosophy department head at the University of Connecticut. He asks that we The Magic Summer of ’66 look for an anthology in metaphysics he by Peter Miller ’67 co-edited with Aaron Cotnoir (St. Andrews University) entitled Composition as Identity, ith a title sounding as evocative as “!e Magic Summer of ‘66” you might due out from Oxford University Press later suppose I’d be referring to something in the nature of an intimate personal this year. Wawakening. And, indeed, the honors program that summer a#orded not just the singular experience of reading a Platonic dialogue with the commitment and Bill Bigelow ’63 tells us of his most sharp analytical guidance of Norman Care or the political and historical richness of interesting philosophy news: his recent Wilson Carey McWilliams or the classical brilliance and humble Socratic presence discovery of the works of Slavoj Zizek. “Are of Nathan Greenberg, any one of which would have been an education of note—the you familiar?” he asks, “He’s quite interest- combined occasion of all three was truly a dream made in Oberlin. ing and surprising!” !ough I probably couldn’t articulate it at the time, this was to be a founding experience in my journey to de$ne my role in the world. Just as Strauss and Cropsey’s History of Political Philosophy includes chapters on the all the great theorists as taken continued on page 6 continued on page 2 2 THE MAGIC SUMMER OF ’66, cont. up by their various students, so would I would be writing the Dewey chapter in the !eory” and the completion of my disser- contribute a chapter to Wolin and Schaar’s textbook, one that would revitalize the con- tation in political theory and community History composed of chapters by Berkeley nections of “!e American Philosopher” to technology, pulling lots of pieces nicely School of Political !eorists, clearly more both political theory—and practice—and together. eclectic and politically wise. I was going to to academic philosophy, along with the It has not quite been the career path I be the academic/departmental philosopher American Hegelian mo[ve]ment. had once envisioned. But then, again, for in this school of theory and practice. I was Alas, my 1975 work lay fallow down those of us fortunate enough to go through at Oberlin that summer to start my study through the decades, though its vision Oberlin in the 1960s, or perhaps most any and work on John Rawls and the contrast in continued to in%uence what would become time, whose career path is ever a clear or conception of the state of nature and politi- my life’s work in community media and traditional one? Attending my 45th reunion cal education with Jean-Jacques Rousseau technology, at periods racing round the this May, I was pleased to stop by the phi- that would be completed by graduation at country setting up community technology losophy open house and share some stories the end of the next academic year. centers/CTCs, some like “!e Bridge” on with the collegial attendees, students, other My path was further set eight years later Main Street in Oberlin, the experience of alums, faculty old and new. I hope to do so with my doctoral qualifying essay on John the summer of ’66 and the promise of ’75 again at my 50th in a few years. Dewey at the University of California at well integrated through all but explicitly N&'(: A)*&+' ,)) -,-(.+ /&'(0 Santa Cruz, where the Berkeley Political laid aside and forgotten. !at is, until some 1(.( ,.( ,2,3),4)( ,': !eorists had gone a"er their purge, my chance exchanges at the Oberlin ’67 cluster -('(.4*3))(..5&.0-.(++.6&*. journey extended, modi$ed, and deferred reunion in 2008 led to a paper on “Oberlin by plans in light of the Vietnam War. I College and the Berkeley School of Political EDITOR’S NOTE, cont. 2013 Graduates Philosophy Majors: ing with questions about mind and the Declan Smithies (Ohio State University), (William) Austin Emerson* world. Along with the traditional option on the relationship between consciousness Alexander Lykoudis* for a general philosophy degree, we hope and cognition, and from Owen Flanagan Evan Baker that the new major will attract the most (Duke University), on life as a perfor- Kevin Gilfether re%ective students with a wide variety of mance. In the spring, we had talks from Stephan Goodwin interests and ambitions. Ram Neta (University of North Carolina Hana Jimenez While the day-to-day business of at Chapel Hill), on the nature of inference, Peter Meckel teaching and research occupied each of from Robert Stecker (Central Michigan Justin Murphy-Mancini us in the department, we were collectively University) on the relation between William Shenton and expertly represented to the college aesthetic and artistic value, and from Leigh Smith Maxwell Sugarman by our new (and $rst-ever female) chair, Carl Hoefer (Universitat Autònoma de Robert (Chip) Dorit Ganson. Dorit gave a most gracious Barcelona), on the relation between causa- Williams address at a recent reception celebrating tion and probability-raising. David Bayless’ endowment of a faculty Next year, we will be hosting the 41st *December graduate support fund in the name of Al MacKay, Oberlin Colloquium in Philosophy with Philosophy Minors: emeritus department member. For more a focus on metaphysics. !e colloquium’s Charlotte Donnelly on David Bayless ’72 and his generous organizers, Kate and Martin !omson- Charlie Hartford support of the college, see below. Jones, are very excited about the program Daniela Medrano In years like this one, which fall be- they have put together. Jack Mintz tween meetings of the biennial Oberlin Below you will $nd more news, from Violet Peña Colloquium, Martin !omson-Jones individual faculty members, alumni, and Elizabeth Ross organizes our departmental speaker graduating students, as well as informa- Benjamin Schild series. !is year’s series was no excep- tion about student achievements and Anrey Wang tion to the record in its high quality and speci$c department events. Happy read- Emily Whitaker rich variety. In the fall, we had talks from ing, and have a wonderful year. Amy Wiltzius Ian Wood Max Zahn Zoe Zetlin 3 FACULTY NEWS Dorit Ganson was busy in her $rst year authored by former Oberlin student number of introductions to philosophy. In as chair of the philosophy department. Ben Bronner, titled “Visual Prominence addition, he taught a section of Philosophy She delivered an invited talk last spring and Representationalism,” appeared 235, Biomedical Ethics, in the spring. Tim at the Paci$c APA in San Francisco, in Philosophical Studies. Todd has an- reports that the pleasures of philosophical “!e Bayesian Critique of Dogmatist and other paper titled “Are Color Experiences conversation are, as he recalled, great with Evidentialist Responses to Skepticism.” In Representational?” forthcoming in that a great number of interlocutors.