Conference on Religious Diversity

I think that the following information will be of interest to those working on religious disagreement and skepticism:

2012 Conference of the
Australasian Philosophy of Religion Association (APRA)

Conference theme: Religious Diversity and Its Philosophical Significance

Keynote speakers:

Richard Kearney (Boston College)

Marilyn McCord Adams (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Kevin Hart (University of Virginia & Australian Catholic University)

Constant Mews (Monash University)

Dates: Friday June 22 – Sunday June 24, 2012

Venue: Australian Catholic University, Melbourne campus (Victoria Parade, Fitzroy)

Please submit a title, a short abstract (of up to 200 words), and a brief bio to Nick.Trakakis@acu.edu.au. Proposals relating to the above conference theme are particularly welcome, though the organising committee also welcomes papers on any topic in the philosophy of religion or philosophical theology. Abstracts are due 10 February 2012.

McGrath & King on Skepticism about Moral Knowledge

A couple of years ago, Sarah McGrath (Princeton) published "Moral Disagreement and Moral Expertise," Oxford Studies in Metaethics 3 (2008): 87-107 (the paper is available here). A recent issue of the Journal of Philosophical Research contains a debate between her and Nathan King (Whitworth):

King, "McGrath on Moral Knowledge," Journal of Philosophical Research 36 (2011): 219-33.

McGrath, "Reply to King," Journal of Philosophical Research 36 (2011): 235-41.

King, "Rejoinder to McGrath," Journal of Philosophical Research 36 (2011): 243-46.

These three pieces are available on the Philosophy Documentation Center's website.

External World Skepticism

Bredo Johnsen (Houston) recently published "The Argument for Radical Skepticism concerning the External World," Journal of Philosophy 106 (2009): 679-93. The paper can be found here or on the Philosophy Documentation Center's website.

Upcoming Workshop on Ancient Skepticism

On May 11th, the University of Notre Dame will hold a workshop on ancient skepticism, voluntarism, and science. Confirmed speakers include Richard Bett, Otávio Bueno, Anjan Chakravartty, Casey Perin, and Michael Williams. I will post more information as it becomes available.

Northwestern Brown Bag Talk

The following information might be of interest to those in the Chicago area:

On January 11th, at 12:00 pm, David Alexander (Iowa) will give a talk titled “The Problem of Respecting Higher-Order Doubt,” for the Epistemology Brown Bag series at Northwestern University. Here is the abstract:

“This paper argues that higher-order doubts generate epistemic dilemmas. One has a higher-order doubt with regards to P insofar as one justifiably withholds belief as to what attitude towards P is justified. That is, one does not know whether one is justified in believing, disbelieving, or withholding belief in P. Using the resources provided by Richard Feldman’s recent discussion of how to respect one’s evidence, I argue that if one has a higher-order doubt with regards to P, then one is not justified in having any attitude towards P. Otherwise put, no attitude towards the doubted proposition respects one’s higher-order doubt. I consider several responses to this problem, and argue that none succeed. I conclude that we must simply accept this particularly corrosive form of doubt as a part of our cognitive lives.”

Roundtable on Greek Skepticism

The latest issue (2011) of the French journal Philosophie Antique contains four papers presented at a roundtable on two recent books on ancient skepticism that took place at the École Normale Supérieure (Paris) in November 2010. The books in question are Lorenzo Corti's Scepticisme et langage (Vrin, 2009) and Anna Maria Ioppolo's La testimonianza di Sesto Empirico sull'Accademia scettica (Bibliopolis, 2009). Stéphane Marchand and Thomas Benatouïl offer critical discussions of the books, followed by responses by the authors.