Midwest Philosophy Colloquium

04/07/2025

This FRIDAY, April 11, 2025

https://events.morris.umn.edu/event/49th-annual-midwest-philosophy-colloquium-8334

Friday, April 11 in Imholte Hall 109 from 5:00-6:00 + Q&A (Livestream URL https://umn.zoom.us/j/99012629517)

Kevin Vallier, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Research at the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at the University of Toledo

Title: "The Political Philosophy of the Vice President of the United States: Two Puzzles"

Abstract: As one of the most philosophically sophisticated vice presidents in American history, JD Vance’s political thought contains notable inconsistencies. Vance combines American nationalism, Catholicism, and newer doctrines of postliberalism and techno-optimism. Vance’s nationalist and techno-optimist convictions pit the nationalist emphasis on high domestic wages against the techno-optimist stress on free markets and globalization, which, even in Vance’s view, can lower domestic wages. In a recent speech, Vance attempted to iron out these inconsistencies, which I will argue are unconvincing. Vance’s commitments to Catholicism and postliberalism lead him to emphasize the individual’s fixed biological and spiritual nature, which contrasts sharply with the techno-optimist belief that personhood can be understood as a kind of computational mechanism that can potentially separate from a biological basis altogether. This latter contradiction poses the greater threat to the coherence of his thought. I will outline the Vice President’s influences and show how they raise tensions that are difficult to resolve.

The Midwest Philosophy Colloquium is one of UMM's oldest and most distinguished speaker series. This year's theme is "The Philosophy of the Trump Administration." Our second speaker is Kevin Vallier, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toledo, where he is Director of Research at the Institu...

04/07/2025

This THURSDAY, April 10, 2025:

https://events.morris.umn.edu/event/49th-annual-midwest-philosophy-colloquium

Joseph Porter, Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder's Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization

Title: "The Dark Enlightenment and the Trump Administration"

Abstract:The New York Times and other media outlets have recently drawn attention to the so-called "Dark Enlightenment" as an influence on the Trump administration. But philosophers and political theorists have almost entirely ignored Dark Enlightenment thinkers like Curtis Yarvin in their scholarship. In this lecture, Joseph Porter will explore some major ideas of the Dark Enlightenment—including the Cathedral and running the government like a start-up—and examine their potential influence on the Trump administration.

The Midwest Philosophy Colloquium is one of UMM's oldest and most distinguished speaker series. This year's theme is "The Philosophy of the Trump Administration." Our first speaker is Joseph Porter, Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder's Benson Center for the Study of....

12/09/2023

Public post.

Youtube version of the Perry Hendricks and PZ Myers "Does God Exist" debate at University of Minnesota Morris, held Dec 8, 2023. Filmed on my phone, but with earphones you can hear quite well. Worth a listen!

PZ Myers (Biology, University of Minnesota Morris) and Perry Hendricks (Philosophy, University of Minnesota Morris) debate the question "Does God Exist?" in ...

02/09/2023

Happy to announce the 47th Annual Midwest Philosophy Colloquium! Theme: "Toxic Moralizing" 🤮

April 13 and 14. Details here.

Every year the UMN Morris Philosophy Discipline hosts the Midwest Philosophy Colloquium, where distinguished speakers come to campus and give talks on topics of general interest. Previous colloquium speakers have included Donald Davidson, Saul Kripke, Fred Dretske, J.L. Mackie, Gilbert Harman, David...

04/15/2022

The 46th Annual Midwest Philosophy Colloquium (April 28-29, 2022) on "Structural Change"

Link: z.umn.edu/structural-change

04/06/2021

Dear all,

The final two events of this year's Midwest Philosophy Colloquium on the "Philosophy of Conspiracy Theory" will be held tonight and tomorrow night.

Tuesday, April 6, 7 PM
David Coady (University of Tasmania): "Why I'm Not Talking About Conspiracy Theories"
https://umn.zoom.us/j/96888347837

David Coady is a Senior Lecturer in philosophy & Gender Studies in the School of Humanities at the University of Tasmania. Coady’s research covers a wide variety of philosophical topics. Most of his current work is on applied philosophy, especially applied epistemology. He has published on rumour, conspiracy theory, the blogosphere, expertise and democratic theory. He has also published on the metaphysics of causation, the philosophy of law, climate change, cricket ethics, police ethics, and the ethics of horror films. He is the author of 'What to Believe Now: Applying Epistemology to Contemporary Issues;, the co-author of 'The Climate Change Debate: an Epistemic and Ethical Enquiry', the editor of 'Conspiracy Theories: the Philosophical Debate' and the co-editor of 'A Companion to Applied Philosophy'.

Wednesday, April 7, 7 PM
Charles Pigden (University of Otago): "'Conspiracy Theory' as a Tonkish Term: The Runabout Inference-Ticket from Truth to Falsehood"
https://umn.zoom.us/j/92374294735

Charles PIgden is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Otago. Professor Pigden has published on a wide range of subjects from the analytic/synthetic distinction through truthmaker theory and the existence (or otherwise) of abstract objects to Jane Austen’s Mr Elliot. He is a Russell scholar who edited 'Russell on Ethics' (which won the Bertrand Russell Society Book Award) and wrote the entry on Russell’s Moral Philosophy for the Stanford Online Encyclopedia of Philosophy. He is also an expert on the Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories, being the first to revive the issue after Popper’s denunciations of conspiracy theorizing in the forties, fifties and sixties. Though Charles dabbles his fingers in many philosophical pies, his chief interest is in meta-ethics. He is a defender of the error-theory with special interests in Moore, Hume and the Is/Ought Question. He is the only philosopher of his acquaintance to have published a philosophical dialogue in blank verse (‘Complots of Mischief’).

We hope to see a few of you there.

Best,

Mark Collier

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

03/24/2021

Dear all,

You are cordially invited to tonight's lecture and discussion panel. The topic of the 45th Annual Midwest Philosophy Colloquium is the "Philosophy of Conspiracy Theory".

Steve Clarke (Oxford University/Charles Sturt University)
"The New Conspiracism and the Old Conspiracism"
Wednesday, March 24
7 PM
https://umn.zoom.us/j/94513523892

Steve Clarke is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University and a Senior Research Associate in the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford. Professor Clarke is the author of two books, co-editor of four books and the author of seventy five journal articles and book chapters.

We hope to see you there.

Best wishes,

Mark Collier

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

03/17/2021

You are cordially invited to tonight's event. The topic of this year's colloquium series is the Philosophy of Conspiracy Theory.

M.R.X Dentith (Beijing Normal University)
"The Ethics of Conspiracy Theorising in the Age of Novel Coronavirus"
Wednesday, March 17
7 PM
https://umn.zoom.us/j/94982746665

M.R.X Dentith is the author of The Philosophy of Conspiracy Theories (2014), the first single author, book-length treatment of the philosophical issues surrounding conspiracy theory, and the editor of Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously (2018), an edited collection of recent work on conspiracy theories. Dentith is also a co-host of The Podcaster's Guide to the Conspiracy.

Best wishes,

Mark Collier

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

03/16/2021

You can now watch a video recording of our first event:

Speaker: Brian Keeley, Pitzer College

02/22/2021

Dear all,
You are cordially invited to participate in this year's Midwest Philosophy Colloquium, where we will be examining the "Philosophy of Conspiracy Theory". FIve of the leading international experts in the field will be joining us (via zoom) this semester. You can find the full list of events on our colloquium website: z.umn.edu/colloq.

Our plan for each event is to commence with a lecture by the speaker, followed by a roundtable composed of several of the other participants in the colloquium series, at which point we will open the floor (as it were) to questions from the audience. The first event in the series will be held tomorrow night at 7 PM.
Date: February 22, 7 PM

Speaker: Brian Keeley (Pitzer College)
Title: "Conspiracy Theories and Public Trust"
zoom link: https://umn.zoom.us/j/97951107485

Brian Keeley is Professor of Philosophy at Pitzer College, where he teaches in the Philosophy, Neuroscience, and Science, Technology and Society programs. Keeley's research interests include the epistemology of conspiracy theories, the philosophy of artificial life and artificial intelligence, and the sciences of sensory perception.

We look forward to seeing you there. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best wishes,
Mark Collier

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

02/17/2021

The 45th Annual Midwest Philosophy Colloquium ("Philosophy of Conspiracy Theory" starts this upcoming Monday (Feb 22, 7 pm). Please see the MPC website (z.umn.edu/colloq) for the list of titles and zoom links. There will be talks by a number of internationally recognized experts in the field as well as a discussion panels for each event. Everyone is welcome to join and post questions for the speakers. We hope to see many alumni as well as current students at these events!

Every year the UMM Philosophy Discipline hosts the Midwest Philosophy Colloquium, where distinguished speakers come to campus and give talks on topics of general interest.