Past Meetings

39th Annual Meeting of the Kansas Philosophical Society

Conference Date: Saturday, February 15, 2020
Conference Location: RC 270 (The Cube)
Johnson County Community College
Overland Park KS.

10:00—10:30 Registration and Coffee
10:30—11:15 The Accessible Universe: On the Choice to Require Bodily Modification for Space Exploration, James Schwartz, Wichita State University.
11:15—11:30 Coffee and conversation
11:30—12:15 Longino’s Forgotten Virtue, Clint Hurshman, University of Kansas.
12:15-1:30 Lunch
1:30—2:15 On the ‘Logics’ of Renga, Susan Castro, Wichita State University.
2:15—3:30 Sympathy for the Devil: A Reply to Nagasawa, Sammuel Byer, Fort Hays State University.
3:30—3:45 Coffee and Conversation
3:45—4:30 Xunzi on Moral Transformation, Xiufen Lu, Wichita State University
4:45—Drinks and Dinner, Barley’s Tap and Grill
“RC” is the Renier Center, which is opposite the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art on the North East part of the JCCC campus.

The Thirty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the Kansas Philosophical Society

Hosted by the Department of Philosophy at Wichita State University in Wichita, KS.

Saturday, February 9, 2019.
266 (Pike Room) Rhatigan Student Center

Keynote address: Sarah Robins, University of Kansas. “The Mnemonic Puzzle”

Program

10:45 AM Introduction: Susan Sterrett, Wichita State University
Welcome address: Andrew Hippisley, Dean of the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Wichita

11:00 AM Session 1
Chair: Jim McBain, Pittsburg State University

“Fake News on Social Media: Eliminating a Uniquely Noxious Market”
Megan Joanna Fritts and Frank Cabrera, Kansas State

“On the Contractualist Case for Eating Meat”
Keith Harris, University of Missouri

12:10 PM Lunch break

1:30 PM Session 2
Chair: Jim Schwartz, Wichita State University

“Self-Reflexive Cognitive Bias”
Joshua Mugg, Park University and Muhammad Ali Khalidi, York University

“Confucian Ethics and the Challenge of Gender”
Dennis Arjo, Johnson County Community College

2:40 PM Break

3:15 PM Session 3
Chair: Patrick Bondy, Wichita State University

“Epistemic Injustice in Aristotelian Ethics”
Noell Birondo, Wichita State University

“Knowing Disability Transactionally: A Pragmatist Response to Epistemic Injustice”
Sarah Woolwine, University of Central Oklahoma

4:25 PM Break

4:40 PM Keynote Address
Chair: Susan Sterrett, Wichita State University

“The Mnemonic Puzzle”
Sarah Robins, University of Kansas

Abstract: That mnemonic devices help us remember is hardly a claim in need of
defense. That philosophers and cognitive scientists can learn about the nature
of memory and cognition by studying mnemonics is more controversial, but is the
claim I shall defend in this paper. Reflecting on how mnemonics work introduces
a challenge, which I call the mnemonic puzzle. The puzzle is this: to remember
X, it is easier to encode more information rather than less. This is, on its
face, counterintuitive. Remembering is effortful. Shouldn’t remembering more
information require more effort? When it comes to cognitive effort, mnemonics
are about working smarter, not harder. There are two lessons that can be drawn
from this apparent puzzle. First, when it comes to memory storage, not all
vehicles of mental content are created equal. Second, mnemonic success reveals
how impressive instances of remembering can be, challenging standard
assumptions of how limitations on memory’s overall capacity bear on the nature
and extent of individual memories .

5:15 PM Brief business meeting
Chair: Brian Hepburn, Wichita State University
Agenda: KPS 2020 venue?

6:30 PM Meet for dinner
Tentatively at Picasso’s Pizzeria
5900 E Central Ave
http://www.picassospizzerias.com/menu.html

KANSAS PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Manhattan, Kansas
Saturday, March 10, 2018

10:00 – coffee, registration
(Kansas State University Union – Room 207)

10:45 – 11:45
“Attention and Deflationary Representationalism”
Rik Hine – Washburn University
Comments: Ben Caplan – The University of Kansas

11:45 – 12:45
“Does Personal Identity Matter? A Reading of Kongzi and Parfit”
Sammuel R. Byer – Fort Hays State University
Comments: Dennis Arjo – Johnson County Community College

12:45 -2:00
Lunch
(You are on your own; and some eateries will be open in the Union.)

2:00 – 3:00
“Biased Machines: The Wrongs of Discriminatory Algorithms”
Jonathan Herington – Kansas State University
Comments: Peter Tramel – Fort Hays State University

3:00-3:30
Coffee break

3:30 – 4:15
“Doxastic Responsibility and Degree of Belief”
Chelsea Bowden – The University of Kansas

4:15-5:00
“Explanationist Evidentialism and Awareness”
Daniel Grosz – The University of Oklahoma

5:30 – drinks at local eatery, TBA
6:00 – 8:00 – dinner (same location)

Directions to the conference venue

Upon entering Manhattan, Kansas, go to the corner of 17th Street and Poyntz
Avenue, and turn or continue North. At 17th Street and Anderson Avenue,
continue straight and turn into the Parking Garage for KSU. As you leave the
Parking Garage, heading North, you will enter the KSU Union on either the
second floor or at the basement. If you enter at the basement, go to second
floor. Find Room 207. (Ask for directions!!)

Thirty-Sixth Annual Meeting of the Kansas Philosophical Society

Saturday April 1, 2017

Centennial Room, Kansas Union

University of Kansas

9:30 – 10:30 Registration and Light Refreshments
10.30 – 12:30 Session I – Chair: John Symons, University of Kansas

“What is the Relationship between ‘Observed’ and ‘Participatory’ Performance” Jim Hamilton, Kansas State University
Commentator: Jim McBain, Pittsburgh State University.

“Why States should not Legalize Physician-Assisted Suicide.” Don Marquis, University of Kansas
Commentator: Russ Jacobs, Washburn University

12:30 – 2:00 Lunch Break

2:00 – 4:00 Session II– Chair: Sarah Robins, University of Kansas

“Sense Perception and Explanation in the Phaedo” Tom Tuozzo, University of Kansas
Commentator: Noell Birondo, Wichita State University

“Not Taking Heidegger’s Word for It: Examining the Moral Implications of Authenticity” Mark L. Price, Columbia College
Commentator: Irina Symons, Apollonia University

4:00 – 4:15 Break

4:15 – 5:15 Session III – Chair: John Symons, University of Kansas

“Religious Experience and Alternative Possibilities Skepticism” Matthew Shea, Saint Louis University
Commentator: Meredith Trexler, Kansas Wesleyan University

5:30 Dinner: TBA

33rd Annual Meeting, Kansas State University (02.15.2014)
“Mill’s Conception of Pleasure: Meeting West in the Middle”, Dale Miller, Old Dominion University (Commentator: Ian Smith, Washburn University)
“Particularism Doesn’t Flatten Anything”, Amelia Hicks, Kansas State University (Commentator: Susan Sterrett, Wichita State University)
“Adaptive Preferences, Live Options, and Value”, Rosa Terlazzo, Kansas State University
“The Special Composition Question and the Question of Novel Existence”, Andrew Higgins, University of Illinois (Commentator: John Symons, University of Kansas)
“Virtue: from Techne to Phronesis”, Matt Stichter, Washington State University (Commentator: Noell Birondo, Wichita State University)
32nd Annual Meeting, Johnson County Community College (02.16.2013)
“Can an Idealization be Essential?” Elay Shech, University of Pittsburgh (Commentator: Susan Castro, Wichita State University)
“The Deontic Cycling Problem”, William Simikulet (Commentator: Justin Moss, Washburn University)
“Balancing Commitment”, Donald Wilson, Kansas State University (Commentator: Russ Jacobs, Washburn University)
“The Objects of Analyticity”, Clark Sexton, University of Kansas (Commentator: Keith Coleman, Johnson County Community College)

31st Annual Meeting, Wichita State University

30th Annual Meeting, Pittsburg State University (2.26.11)
“What Is ‘Thought That Thinks Itself’?”,Nathan Colaner, University of Kansas/Rockhurst University (Commentator: Johnny Washington, Missouri State University)
“Hume on the Virtues of Taste”,Tina Baceski, Rockhurst University (Commentator: Susan Castro, Wichita State University)
“Rethinking Fundamental Theories in Light of Theory-Ladenness”, Scott Tanona, Kansas State University (Commentator: Dennis Arjo, Johnson County Community College)
“Interactivity, Unpredictability, and Aesthetic Change in Videogames”, Zach Jurgensen, University of Oklahoma (Commentator: James McBain, Pittsburg State University)
“Recognition of Characters in Theatrical Performances”, Jim Hamilton, Kansas State University (No commentator)

29th Annual Meeting, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (2.27.10)
“The Metaphysics of Structured Representations:The Unity Problem of Mental Representations”, Andrew Russo, University of Oklahoma, Commentator: Nathan Cox, University of Kansas
“On Pretense Theories of Theatrical Performance”, Jim Hamilton, Kansas State University, Commentator: Mike Vitevitch, University of Kansas
“Liberalism and Religious Equality”,Jon Mahoney, Kansas State University, Commentator: Jim McBain, Pittsburg State University
“Mandatory Cadaver Organ Procurement”, Mark Price, Columbia College, Commentator: Carl Miller, Fort Hays State University

27th Annual Meeting, Washburn University, Topeka, KS (2.16.2008)
“Truth and Deception in Kantian Ethics,” Donald Wilson, Kansas State University [Comment: Larry James, University of Kansas]
“Keeping Reference in Mind,” Kevin Edwards, University of Kansas
“Art, Emotion, and Expression,” Ben Tilghman, Kansas State University, Emeritus [Comment: Scott Jenkins, University of Kansas]
“Doesn’t Continuous Creation Entail Occasionalim?: Malebranche (and Descartes),” Josh Spears, University of Central Oklahoma [Comment: Richard Cole, University of Kansas, Emeritus]

26th Annual Meeting, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS (2.17.2007)
“How to Make Sense of Law’s Objectivity,” Jon Mahoney, Kansas State University
“The Skeptical Threat in a Non-Absolutist View,” Eric Yang, University of Oklahoma
“Genetic Discrimination in Health Insurance: An Ethical and Economic Analysis,” Ben Eggleston, University of Kansas
“The Myth of ‘Of’,” Jim Hamilton, Kansas State University
“Reflective Faith and the Boundaries of Mere Reason in Kant’s Religion,” Christopher McCammon, University of Nebraska
“Warren, Davion, and the Proposed Link between Feminism and Ecofeminism,” Mark Price, Columbia College

25th Annual Meeting, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS (2.18.2006)
“Abortions, Persons, and Futures of Value,” Donald Wilson, Kansas State University [Comment: Don Marquis, University of Kansas]
“Hume and the Philosophy of Law,” Jeremy Gallegos, Wichita State University
“The Shared-Value Thesis,” Delilah Caldwell, Southwestern College [Comment: Robert Feleppa, Wichita State University]
“Epistemological Practice and the Internalism/Externalism Debate,” James McBain, Pittsburg State University [Comment: Douglas Patterson, Kansas State University]

24th Annual Meeting, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (2.19.2005)
“Socrates Meets Heidegger: A Socratic Explanation of the Education of the Soul as Expressed in the Allegory of the Cave,” Corinne Painter, Emporia State University [Comment: Yancy Dominick, University of Kansas]
“Exhuming Hume: Does Hume Undermine Compatibilist Accounts of Responsibility?” Anne Tarver, Wichita State University [Comment: Curran Douglass, University of Kansas]
“The Madness of Reason: Morality and Forgiveness,” Christian Lotz, University of Kansas [Comment: Jamey Findling, Newman University]
“Mundus vult decipi, or, The Pleasure of Being Duped,” Clancy Martin, University of Missouri at Kansas City [Comment: Aaron Dopf, University of Kansas]

23rd Annual Meeting, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (2.21.2004)
“Rule Following and the Background,” Jeffrey Herschfield, Wichita State University [Comment: Deborah Soles, Wichita State University]
“Moral Health, Moral Prosperity, & Universalization in Kant’s Ethics,” Donald Wilson, Kansas State University [Comment: Ben Eggleston, University of Kansas]
“In Defense of Traits: Harman and the Empirical Commitments of Virtue Ethics,” Dennis Arjo, Johnson County Community College [Comment: James McBain, Kansas State University]
“Teaching Nature: Natural Virtue and Practical Wisdom in the Nicomachean Ethics,” Yancey Hughes Dominick, University of Kansas [Comment: Lee Basham, Baker University]

22nd Annual Meeting, Washburn University, Topeka, KS (2.15.2003)
“Thinking about Kagan’s Intuitions about Cases,” James McBain, Pittsburg State University [Comment: Anne Tarver, Wichita State University]
“(Super)fragile Reasons for Action and the Modal Structure of Internalism,” Teresa Robertson, University of Kansas
“Mercy and Autonomy: The Failure of a Justification for Euthanasia,” Mark L. Price, Columbia College [Comment: Donald Marquis, University of Kansas]
“Justice as a Virtue of Character,” Samuel Kreider, University of Kansas

21st Annual Meeting, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS (2.16.2002)
“Pleased and Afflicted: Hume on Response to Tragedy,” Eva Dadlez, University of Central Oklahoma
“Abstract Artifacts in Pretense,” Sarah Sawyer, University of Kansas [Comment: Jeffrey Hershfield, Wichita State University]
“Critical Thinking, Argument Evaluation, and Subjectivity,” Donald Hatcher, Baker University [Comment: William Vanderburgh, Wichita State University]

20th Annual Meeting, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (2.17.2001)
“Descartes on the Eternal Truths,” Marleen Rozemond, Kansas State University [Comment: David Soles, Wichita State University]
“World Hunger and the Moral Requirements of Self-Sacrifice,” Thomas W. Peard, Baker University [Comment: Richard De George, University of Kansas]
“Compassion and the Mere Addition paradox,” Kai Draper, Kansas State University [Comment: Don Marquis, University of Kansas]
“A Puzzle about Defeat,” Lawrence Pasternack, Oklahoma State University [Comment: Russ Jacobs, Washburn University]

19th Annual Meeting, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (2.11.2000)
No Program Available

18th Annual Meeting, Washburn University, Topeka, KS (2.6.1999)
“Adieu BonJour: Getting Cognitive Possession of ‘Getting Cognitive Possession’,” Greg Hodes, Longview Community College [Comment: David Faber, Tabor College]
“Moral Antirealism Naturalized,” Robert Feleppa, Wichita State University [Comment: John Bricke, University of Kansas]
“Evolutionary Ethics and the Problem of Altruism,” Russell Jacobs, Washburn University [Comment: Gerald Paske, Wichita State University]

17th Annual Meeting, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS (2.7.1998)
“Leiter, Nietzsche, and Herd Morality: A Critical Notice,” Robert Hull, West Virginia Wesleyan [Comment: Charles Brown, Emporia State University]
“Micro-Indeterminism and Human Freedom,” Marcelo Sabates and Bruce Glymour, Kansas State University
“The Action as Conclusion,” Philip Clark, Kansas State University [Comment: Eugene Bales, Bethany College]
“Why Abortion is Not Immoral: A Response to Marquis,” Donald Hatcher, Baker University [Comment: Donald Marquis, University of Kansas]

16th Annual Meeting, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (2.8.1997)
“Aesthetic Appreciation, Original Function, and the Work of Art,” Mark Mikkelsen, Missouri Western State College [Comment: Benjamin Tilghman, Kansas State University]
“Theatrical Enactment,” James Hamilton, Kansas State University
“On an Alleged Tension in Mill,” David Soles, Wichita State University [Comment: Donald Marquis, University of Kansas]
“Causal vs. Non-Causal Dependence Relations,” Marcelo Sabates, Kansas State University [Comment: Jeff Hershfield, Wichita State University]

15th Annual Meeting, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (2.10.1996)
No Program Available

14th Annual Meeting, Washburn University, Topeka, KS (2.11.1995)
“Saying Two Things at Once,” Michael O’Rourke, Kansas State University [Comment: Jim Page, University of Kansas]
“Yet Another Paper on Mill’s Proof,” David E. Soles, Wichita State University [Comment: Russell Jacobs, Washburn University]
“Can Political Liberalism Sustain Itself?,” David R. Reidy, University of Kansas [Comment: Randall Morris, WJ]
“A Mixed View of Flourishing,” Doran Smolkin, Kansas State University [Comment: James P. Mesa, KNC]

13th Annual Meeting, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS (2.12.1994)
“Compensation and Fair Exchange,” Kai Draper, Kansas State University
“Early Confucianism Confronts 20th Century Evil,” Wallace Gray, Southwestern College
“Explaining the Capacities of Complex Individuals,” Ben F. Rogers, Wichita State University [Comment: Ann Cudd, University of Kansas]

?th Meeting, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (2.8.1986)
“A Defense of Unlearned Language”, Andrew Ward, University of Kansas [Comment: Deborah Soles, Wichita State University]
“Jules Lequier on Freedom and the Mechanics of Omniscience,” Don Viney, Pittsburg State University [Comment: Robin Smith, Kansas State University]