2009

13th annual Pacific University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

April 17-18, 2009

 

Friday, April 17 (Registration and banquet in the UCC church, next to Pacific's campus, on the corner of College Way and 21st Avenue)
4:00-6:00pm Registration
6:00-7:00pm Conference banquet
7:30-9:00pm Keynote presentation; a live taping of the public radio show, "Philosophy Talk," hosted by John Perry and Ken Taylor, both of Stanford University (McCready Auditorium, in the Taylor-Mead building)
Saturday, April 18 (Registration and all paper sessions in Marsh Hall; meals are in the UCC church)
8:00-9:00am Regristration (Marsh Hall second floor lobby)
7:00-8:00am Breakfast (UCC church)

8:00-9:30 Paper Session #1
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION: PRAYER(Marsh LL21)
Kevin LaBarre (Western Washington University), "Moral Responsibility and Petitionary Prayer"
Commentator: Frank Canepa (George Fox University)
PUTNAM (Marsh LL5)
Ellen Nitchals (Willamette University), "'Meaning and Reference' Revisited"
Commentator: Rossy Tzankova (Reed College)
GENDER (Marsh 101)
Rebecca Coad (University of British Columbia), "Martha Nussbaum's Capabilities Approach and the Problem of Psychological Oppression"
Commentator: Mindy Young-Lawson (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville)
Casie Dunleavy (Central Washington University), "Identity as Fiction and What this Means for Gender Existentially"
Commentator: Holly Havens (Grand Valley State University)
EVOLUTION (Marsh 106)
Danielle Hallet (University of British Columbia), "Romance and the Wonder of Nature"
Commentator: Andrew Baumgartner (University of Nebraska, Kearney)
Marc Anthony Parker (Birmingham-Southern College), "The Ethical Implications of Evolutionary Theory"
Commentator: Spencer Case (Idaho State University)
METAPHYSICS (Marsh 201)
Pamela Robinson (University of Victoria), "Kripke and Chalmers' 'Intuitive' Arguments against Identity Theories: Why They Fail"
Commentator: Glen Nesse (Western Washington University)
SOCIAL/POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (Marsh 206)
Carl Templin/Franklin Welter (University of Toledo/Bowling Green State University), "Concerning World Domination"
Commentator: Chris Palmer (Pacific University)
André Cotten (University of Mississippi), "The State of Racism"
Commentator: Chris Palmer (Pacific University)
DESCARTES (Marsh 207)
Amanda Hale (Auburn University), "Descartes' 'Traditional Epistemology'"
Commentator: Carrie Tirrell (Willamette University)
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS (Marsh 212)
Daniel DiMeo (Knox College), "Environmental Ethics: The Need for a De-disciplined Pragmatic Philosophy"
Commentator: Matthew G. Baughman (University of Idaho)
Phillip Downes (Central Washington University), "The Kantian Expansion of the Qualifications of Civilization"
Commentator:
PLATO (Marsh 213)
Jonathan Laughlin (Walsh University), "The Pride and Ignorance Found in Euthyphro's Cave"
Commentator: Willie Costello (University of Pittsburgh)
James Feore (University of Guam), "Plato on America: From Aristocracy to Tyranny"
Commentator: Michael Cox (Northern Arizona University)
SELF/AUTHENTICITY (Marsh 214)
Kaycie Rueter (University of Portland), "Anxiety and Self-Knowledge: Understanding the Origins of Self-Knowledge and Opening up the Possibilities of the Self"
Commentator: Ashe, Eli (University of Washington)

9:45-11:15 Paper Session #2
PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE (Marsh LL21)
James Grayot (Humboldt State University), "Philosophical Therapy"
Commentator: Ellen Nitchals (Willamette University)
Sean Kehr (Portland State University), "How Not To Do Things With Words: Arguments Against Performative Utterances"
Commentator: Mike McKearn (Knox College)
EPISTEMOLOGY (Marsh LL5)
Sam Elgin (Reed College), "Knowledge In or Out of Context"
Commentator: Yael Benjamin (University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth)
Maureen Turner (University of Arizona), "Where, oh where can my little HOTs be?"
Commentator: Keith Teltser (West Virginia University)
SCIENCE AND RELIGION (Marsh 101)
Andrew Baumgartner (University of Nebraska at Kearney), "The Fallacies of Fundamentalism"
Commentator: Peter Phalen (Reed College)
Shuye Chen (Knox College), "Science and Scientific Creationism"
Commentator: Lauren Blesi (Central Washington University)
DECISION-MAKING (Marsh 106)
Chloe Waterman (Lewis & Clark College), "Refined Desire and the Human Good"
Commentator: Kajia Eidse-Rempel (University of Winnipeg)
Justin Ranger (Boise State University), "Proof, Custom, and the Nature of Beliefs in Pascal's Philosophy"
Commentator: Jacob Zillhardt (St. Olaf College)
PHILOSOPHY OF MIND (Marsh 201)
Ashley Brumett (Central Washington University), "Cautious Endorsement: Preventing an Extended Mind"
Commentator: Wes Anderson (Portland State University)
NIETZSCHE (Marsh 206)
Shannon Griffin (Northwest Missouri State University), "A Look at the Morals and Ethics orf Friedrich Nietzsche"
Commentator: Aaron Frein (University of Puget Sound)
Mindy Young-Lawson (Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville), "A Nietzschean Response to the Demands of 'Beauty' in Contemporary Western Society"
Commentator:
METAPHYSICS (Marsh 207)
Benjamin Russ (Knox College), "The Meditations and Dreaming: Featuring The Matrix"
Commentator: Jordan Park (Boise State University)
Eric Gutierrez (Valparaiso University), "Human Freedom and Leibniz's Theodicy: Is God the Author of Evil?"
Commentator: Melissa Schumacher (North Carolina State University)
SOCIAL/POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (Marsh 212)
Alicia M. Donner (Creighton University), "Population Control: Financial Incentives, Freedom and the Question of Coercion"
Commentator: Daniel DiMeo (Knox College)
Mary Huie (University of North Carolina, Greensboro), "A Response to Sandel Concerning Assisted Reproductive Technology and Its Effects on Solidarity"
Commentator:
AGENCY/EXPERIENCE (Marsh 213)
Sarah Curtis (Pacific Lutheran University), "The Metaphysics of Farming"
Commentator: Matt Trotter (Pacific University)
ETHICS (Marsh 214)
Hannah Tierney (Lewis & Clark College), "Empathy and Moral Agency: A Foray Into the Moral Lives of Autistic and Psychopathic Individuals"
Commentator: Evan Westra (University of British Columbia)
Mika Maekawa (Smith College), "The Devil Inside: A Psychological Introspection of the Philosophy of Bad Action"
Commentator: Thomas Lederer (Kalamazoo College)

11:30-1:00 Paper Session #3
PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE (Marsh LL21)
Matthew Kuhr (Grand Valley State University), "Balding and the King of France: Another Look into the Russell, Strawson Debate"
Commentator: Thomas Schulte (Metropolitan State College of Denver)
Peter Phalen (Reed College), "Reference, Representation, Truth, and Some Problems That Are Better Left Unsolved"
Commentator: Colbert Kirchner (Humboldt State University)
VIRTUE ETHICS (Marsh LL5)
Spencer Case (Idaho State University), "A Metaphysical Framework for Virtue Ethics"
Commentator: Jonathan Lerner (University of British Columbia)
Michael Cox (Northern Arizona University), "He Can Have His Cake, but You Can't Eat It, Too: Universal Salvation in the Analects"
Commentator: Kevin Quirk (Knox College)
EPISTEMOLOGY (Marsh 101)
Peter D. Van Elswyk (Biola University), "Recovering Luminosity"
Commentator: Ryan Burke (Humboldt State University)
Alex von Stein (Lewis & Clark College), "Doxastic Voluntarism and Epistemic Norms"
Commentator: Mary Huie (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)
METAPHYSICS (Marsh 106)
Glen Nesse (Western Washington University), "Atoms and the Void"
Commentator: Blake Lavender (Willamette University)
Rebecca Ok (Reed College), "On the Consistency of Common Sense and a Kooky View"
Commentator:
SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY (Marsh 201)
Matthew Vanderlaan (University of Portland), "Batman and Overman"
Commentator: Sean Kehr (Portland State University)
Alex W. Kemmsies (Knox College), "An Account of Statistics in Methodological Individualism"
Commentator: Jesse Riehm (Willamette University)
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE (Marsh 206)
Erik Svetich (Santa Clara University), "A Defense of Scientific Progress"
Commentator: Joshua O'Rourke (Reed College)
HEGEL (Marsh 207)
Emily Long (Lewis & Clark College), "Comparison of Schelling and Hegel's Philosophies of Aesthetics and The Absolute"
Commentator: Eli Ashe (University of Washington)
PLATO (Marsh 212)
Lisa Dennis (Missouri State University), "A Modern Repudiation of The Allegory"
Commentator: Allison Glasscock (Western Oregon University)
Willie Costello (University of Pittsburgh), "Rethinking the Metaphysical Charge Against Poetry in Republic X"
Commentator: Michael Rabenberg (Kenyon College)
SELF/AUTHENTICITY (Marsh 213)
Kaley Morlock (Knox College), "Welcome to Facebook!: Assessing Existential Values and Authenticity in the Virtual Domain"
Commentator: Christian Mecham (Central Washington University)
Thomas Lederer (Kalamazoo College), "Individualization in Relation to Language: A Study of Habermas and Lacan"
Commentator: Brady Myers (Knox College)
DENNETT (Marsh 214)
L. Pippa Callanan (Portland State University), "Quining Qualia: The Difficulty of Eliminating"
Commentator: Daniel Beck (Miami University of Ohio)
Eric J. Ratzel (Knox College), "Delimiting the Explanatory Authority of Heterophenomenology"
Commentator: Mike McKearn (Knox College)

1:00-2:15 Lunch (UCC church)

2:15-3:45 Paper Session #4
KANT (Marsh LL21)
Jacob Zillhardt (St. Olaf Colleg), "Kantian Empathy in Art and the Practical World"
Commentator: Meghan Lloyd (Willamette University)
Erik Olmstead (Bethel University), "Apperception and the Categories: An Explanation of Kant's Transcendental Deduction"
Commentator: Danielle Hallet (University of British Columbia)
METAPHYSICS (Marsh LL5)
Aaron Pratt (Pacific University), "In Search of Aristotle's Ousia: An Epistemological and Ontological Inquiry"
Commentator: Justin Ranger (Boise State University)
Ryan Burke (Humboldt State University), "Ratios and the History of Western Philosophy"
Commentator:
DECISION-MAKING (Marsh 101)
Eli Ashe (University of Washington), "A Logical Dilemma"
Commentator: Tarin Schalow (Lewis & Clark College)
PHILOSOPHY OF MIND (Marsh 106)
Wes Anderson (Portland State University), "Paul Churchland on Introspection"
Commentator: Maureen Turner (University of Arizona)
Randall Ward (Central Washington University), "Self-Recognition and Conscious Awareness"
Commentator: Eric Eddy (Whitworth College)
FOUNDATIONALISM (Marsh 201)
Chelsea Ruxer (University of Evansville), "Externalist Foundationalism"
Commentator: Alex von Stein (Lewis & Clark College)
Keith Teltser (West Virginia University), "Defense of Givenism"
Commentator: Chelsea Ruxer (University of Evansville)
RORTY (Marsh 206)
Kevin Lande (Montana State University - Bozeman), "Rorty, Relativism, and Ethnocentrism"
Commentator: Steve Trbovich (Humboldt State University)
Michael Rabenberg (Kenyon College), "Richard Rorty's Defense of Irrationalism"
Commentator: Steve Trbovich (Humboldt State University)
PHILOSOPHY OF TIME (Marsh 207)
Jordan Park (Boise State University), "Time: As Measure of Change"
Commentator: Jose Palafox (Reed College)
Melissa Schumacher (North Carolina State University), "Counter-Intuitions: Two Views of an Apparent Time-Travel Paradox"
Commentator: Rebecca Ok (Reed College)
MARX (Marsh 212)
Adam Harris (University of Nevada, Reno), "History and the Historical: A Critique of Historical Materialism"
Commentator: Elizabeth Parciany (University of Washington)
ETHICS (Marsh 213)
Daniel Beck (Miami University of Ohio), "Care to be Just: Suggestions for an Integrated Moral Perspective"
Commentator:
Kajia Eidse-Rempel (University of Winnipeg), "On Abortion"
Commentator: Ben Wright (Knox College)
AGENCY/EXPERIENCE (Marsh 214)
Jake Whipple (Knox College), "Being As Doing"
Commentator: Zachary Price (Biola University)
Sean Wolfe (Kalamazoo College), "Reconciling Honneth's Theory of Recognition with Habermas's Theory of Communicative Action"
Commentator:

4:00-6:15 Paper Session #5
KANT (Marsh LL21)
Aaron Frein (University of Puget Sound), "The Dissolution of Kant's Self"
Commentator: Eric Ratzel (Knox College)
Thomas Schulte (Metropolitan State College of Denver), "Moral Worth and Inclination: What Kant Did Say"
Commentator: Phillip Downes (Central Washington University)
Mike McKearn (Knox College), "A Study of Civic Attitudes in Kant and Plato"
Commentator: Michael Rabenberg (Kenyon College)
RELIGION (Marsh LL5)
Frank Canepa (George Fox University), "The Russellian World and Deep Religion"
Commentator: Jeremiah Hawkins (Willamette University)
Lauren Blesi (Central Washington University), "Man's Essential Nature: Feuerbach, Morality, and Medical Practice"
Commentator:
Jason G. Farris (Walsh University), " Spirituality Is Subjectivity: Kierkegaard's Spiritual Path of Individuality"
Commentator: Aaron Pratt (Pacific University)
ART/AESTHETICS (Marsh 101)
Trevor Martin (Oakland University), "An Acceptable Definition of Art"
Commentator: Matthew Kuhr (Grand Valley State University)
Bo Pons (University of South Dakota), "Video Games as an Art Form: The Aesthetic Nature of Cheating in Video Games"
Commentator: Justin Brock (Willamette University)
Christian Mecham (Central Washington University), "To See It Feelingly: The Philosophy of Sound and Echo in Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves"
Commentator:
SKEPTICISM (Marsh 106)
Eli Cohn (Lewis & Clark College), "Nozick on Closure"
Commentator: Peter VanElswyk (Biola University)
Emery K. Way (Southern Oregon University), "Faith, Skepticism, and the Suicide of Reason"
Commentator: Shuye Chen (Knox College)
HEIDEGGER (Marsh 201)
Patrick O'Donnell (Columbia University), "Being-in-the-World, Representation, and Authenticity: Death in Being and Time"
Commentator: L. Pippa Callanan (Portland State University)
Zachary Price (Biola University), "Word Vomit: A Heideggerian Analysis of Semiotic in Sartre's Nausea"
Commentator: Erik Svetich (Santa Clara University)
METAPHILOSOPHY (Marsh 206)
Brady Myers (Knox College), "'A feature that cuts across the ages': Concept and Immanence in Deleuze and Guattari"
Commentator: Katherine Logan Guy (University of Oregon)
Steve Trbovich (Humboldt State University), "Philosophical Dogmas and Their Psuedo-Problems"
Commentator: Michelle Bingaman (Pacific University)
Dennis Lambert (University of San Francisco), "(De)construction / De(con)struction"
Commentator: Ian Fontana (University of Idaho)
FREE WILL (Marsh 207)
Patrick Anderson (Grand Valley State University), "The Dilemma of Foreknowledge: The Shortcomings of Augustine and Others"
Commentator: Carl Templin (University of Toledo)
Eric Eddy (Whitworth University), "Alternate Choices and Moral Responsibility"
Commentator: Davida Grimes (Lewis & Clark College)
Evan Westra (University of British Columbia), "The Quantum Coin-Toss: Evaluating Robet Kane's Libertarian Model of Free Will"
Commentator:
MEDICAL ETHICS (Marsh 212)
Alana Murphy (Ithaca College), "Giving Patients Hope and a Future: A Multidiscipliinary and Holistic Approach to Medical Diagnostic Delivery"
Commentator:
Chris Partridge (Bowling Green State University), "On the Moral Permissibility of Voluntary Amputation"
Commentator: Casie Dunleavy (Central Washington University)
EXPERIENCE (Marsh 213)
Ben Wright (Knox College), "Lucidity While Dreaming and Its Possibilities"
Commentator: Alan Peters (Pacific University)
Holly Havens (Grand Valley State University), "The Aesthetic Character of Erotic Love"
Commentator: Kaley Morlock (Knox College)
ETHICS (Marsh 214)
Allison H. Glasscock (Western Oregon University), "To Be Truly Happy: Fortune, False Goods, and Happiness in Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy"
Commentator: Heather Stevens (Whitworth University)
Kevin Quirk (Knox College), "Where Do Heroes Go When They Get Old?"
Commentator: Sean Irving (Willamette University)
Jonathan Lerner (University of British Columbia), "Does It Hurt?: Are Performance Enhancing Drugs Morally Permissible in Sport?"
Commentator: Maggie Wigness (Pacific University)