Graduate Conference on Skepticism

On February 16th-17th, Saint Louis University's philosophy department will host a graduate conference on skepticism, broadly construed. There is at present a call for papers, which should be no more than 3000 words in length. To submit a paper, send a blind copy to efulmer@slu.edu. The deadline for submissions is January 6th and notifications will be sent out on January 16th. Keynote addresses will be delivered by Ernest Sosa (Rutgers) and Jonathan Kvanvig (Washington University in Saint Louis). ​If you have any questions, contact Everett Fulmer (efulmer@slu.edu) or Luis Pinto de Sa (pintodesals@slu.edu).​

New Issue of Sképsis

Issue 14 of the Brazilian journal Sképsis is now out. It is devoted to Barry Stroud. You can access it for free here.

Issue 6.4 of IJSS

Issue 6.4 of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism is now out. It includes articles by Daniel Immerman and Moti Mizhari, discussions by Susan Feldman and Peter Murphy, and book reviews by Michael Hickson, Jack Lyons, and Joshua Thurow. You can access it here.

Moore, Wittgenstein, and Skepticism

The latest issue of Nordic Wittgenstein Review (5.2, 2016) includes Nicola Claudio Salvatore's “Moore(anists) and Wittgenstein on Radical Skepticism.” The paper can be found here.

Skepticism Conference in Chicago

The University of Chicago is hosting a conference on “Skepticism as a Form of Philosophical Experience” on February 3-5, 2017. For complete information, go here.

Skepticism in Early Modern England

Just found this book that deals with skepticism in Early Modern England from the viewpoint of literature and intellectual history:

Melissa M. Caldwell, Skepticism and Belief in Early Modern England: The Reformation of Moral Value (Routledge 2016).

For more information, go here.

Vuillemin and Skepticism

The bulk of the latest issue of the French journal Philosophia Scientiæ (20.3/2016) is devoted to Jules Vuillemin's interpretation of skepticism. Here's the ToC, but to read the abstracts and access the papers, go here.

Lorenzo Corti, Joseph Vidal-Rosset: “Préface.”

Lorenzo Corti: “Jules Vuillemin et la morale du pyrrhonisme.”

Ugo Zilioli: “Could the Cyrenaics live an ethical life? Jules Vuillemin’s answer (and a further suggestion).”

Stéphane Marchand: “Jules Vuillemin et le scepticisme utilitaire de Carnéade.”

Carlos Lévy: “Jules Vuillemin, le pyrrhonisme et Carnéade.”

Baptiste Mélès: “Comment le scepticisme est devenu un système. La classification de Jules Vuillemin et ses transformations.”

Joseph Vidal-Rosset: “Rawls, « un sceptique amateur de tranquillité » ? Réponse à Jules Vuillemin.”

Conference on the Evolution of Morality

There is a call for registration for the interdisciplinary conference “The Descent of Moral Sentiment,” which will deal with the ontogeny and evolution of human morality. It will take place on February 13-15, 2017, at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. For complete information about the conference, click here.

Skepticism and Religion

A volume dealing with the connection between skepticism and religion particularly in ancient philosophy has just been published:

A.-I. Bouton-Touboulic, C. Lévy (eds.), Scepticisme et religion: Constantes et évolutions, de la philosophie hellénistique à la philosophie médiévale (Brepols, 2016).

More information can be found here.

New Book on Arcesilaus

A new book in Italian on the Academic skeptic Arcesilaus has just been published: 

Simone Vezzoli, Arcesilao di Pitane: l'origine del Platonismo neoaccademico. Analisi e fonti (Brepols 2016).

For more information, go here.

Against the Evolutionary Debunking of Morality

The latest issue of Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (93, 2016) includes William Talbott's “A New Reliability Defeater from Evolutionary Naturalism.” The paper can be found here.

Conference on Doubt and Skepticism

On May 4-6 2017, there will be an interdisciplinary conference, “From Reasonable Doubt to Undue Scepticism,” at Birkbeck College, London. The conference will bring together scholars from various disciplines (psychology, epistemology, philosophy of science, law, statistics) and practicing professionals (lawyers/judges, clinicians, climate scientists, forensic scientists, journalists) to work towards an understanding of reasoning and decision-making under uncertainty through the lens of the notion of ‘reasonable doubt’. The goal is not only to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue, but also to pay particular attention to everyday practice. This should shed new light on epistemological and psychological questions about the nature and dynamics of belief and action, as well as on difficult judicial issues. Fostering such a dialogue among disciplines, and between researchers and practitioners, should also have implications for currently pressing societal issues such as the role and credentials of experts in democracy, conspiracy theories, science denial, and the epistemology and psychology of the social media — in short, societal concerns rooted in the difficulty of navigating an overwhelming mass of information.

Keynote speakers

Professor Branden Fitelson (Northeastern University)

Professor Larry Laudan (University of Texas at Austin)

Professor Stephan Lewandowsky (University of Bristol)

Professor Paul Roberts (University of Nottingham)

Professor Dan Simon (University of Southern California Gould School of Law)

Call for papers

In addition to the keynote presentations, a few slots will be open for contributed papers. We invite submissions from scholars or practitioners in any field relevant to the topic of the conference. The deadline for submission is December 20th, 2016. Among the issues to be addressed are the following: What is the meaning of ‘reasonable doubt’ as a legal standard of proof (how should it be understood, and how is it, in practice)? What would a Bayesian decision-theoretical account of ‘reasonable doubt’ as a possible norm of reasoning and decision-making look like? Are there criteria to tell apart reasonable doubts from unreasonable ones? Who is legitimate in setting them, and in virtue of what kind of credentials? How can critical thinking be promoted without encouraging science denial and undermining the credentials of scientists? More generally, any reflection on how experts (climate scientists, forensic scientists, health professionals, etc.) and decision-makers, but also journalists having to pass on information to the public, deal with doubt and uncertainty in their day-to-day work would be welcome.

Further information about the conference’s topic and specific issues to be addressed, as well as the submission page, are available at: http://readoubtproject.wixsite.com/conference. For any question, please write to readoubtproject@gmail.com.

Evolutionary Debunking of Morality

For those interested in evolutionary debunking arguments in ethics, here are three good (advanced) overviews:

K. Mason, “Debunking Arguments and the Genealogy of Religion and Morality,” Philosophy Compass 5 (2010): 770–778. (Click here.)

K. Vavova, “Evolutionary Debunking of Moral Realism,” Philosophy Compass 10 (2015): 104–116. (Click here.)

E. Wielenberg, “Ethics and Evolutionary Theory,” forthcoming in Analysis. (Click here.)

International Conference on Skepticism in Hamburg

There is a Call for Papers for an International Conference on Scepticism, organized by the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies – Jewish Scepticism. The conference will be held on 8-11 May, 2017 at the University of Hamburg (Germany). The conference committee invites six young scholars (PhD candidates and postdocs) to participate in one of the two round-table discussions of the conference by giving a 20-minute lecture on a topic broadly related to scepticism, followed by 10–20 minutes of discussion and Q&A. The topics of the roundtables are: “Scepticism in Antiquity and the Middle Ages” (three lectures) and “Scepticism in (Early) Modern and Contemporary Times” (three lectures). All lectures should be based on current or future research projects.

PhD candidates or postdocs who wish to present papers are requested to submit a 200-word abstract and a CV until 15th October 2016 to the e-mail account listed below. Expenses for travel and accommodation will be covered by the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies.

For further information and questions please contact:

Maria Wazinski

e-mail: maria.wazinski@uni-hamburg.de

phone: +49-(0)40-42838-8605

Hume's Skepticism

A new book on Hume's skepticism has just been published in series SpringerBriefs in Philosophy: David Hume, Sceptic, by Zuzana Parusniková. For more information, go here.

Skepticism and Politics in Cicero

Palgrave Macmillan has just published Walter Nicgorski's Cicero's Skepticism and His Recovery of Political Philosophy. For complete information, click here.

Gorgias

Those interested in the “skeptical” aspects of the Sophists' views might want to know about the publication of a new French translation of both Platon's Gorgias and Gorgias's Encomium of Helen: 

Gorgias de Platon, suivi d'Éloge d'Hélène de Gorgias, translated by Stéphane Marchand and Pierre Ponchon (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2016).

For more information, go here.

Garner's Beyond Morality

In 1994, Richard Garner published Beyond Morality (Temple University Press), in which he defends moral error theory and moral abolitionism. The book was out of print for a few years, but in 2014 was republished by Echo Point Books & Media. For more information, go here.

Job at Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies

Pending approval of external funding, the Universität Hamburg invites applications for a Research Associate for the project “Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies - Jewish Scepticism.” The position starts on 01.01.2017 and will be associated to the Institute for Jewish Philosophy and Religion at the Department of Humanities/Philosophy at the University of Hamburg. The position is remunerated at the salary level TV-L 14 and calls for 39 hours per week. The term is fixed to 28.02.2019. The University aims to increase the number of women in research and teaching and explicitly encourages women to apply. Equally qualified female applicants will receive preference in accordance with the Hamburg Equality Act.

Responsibilities: 

Duties include academic services in the project named above. Research associates can also pursue independent research and further academic qualifications. 

Specific Duties: 

The successful applicant will be responsible for the publication series of the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies and conduct research within the field of (Jewish) Scepticism. 

Requirements: 

A university degree in a relevant subject plus doctorate. Furthermore the following skills and work experience are required: 

- Native English language skills. 

- The knowledge of additional languages relevant for the project, such as Hebrew, French, Italian, Latin, Greek or Arabic, is desirable. 

- Experience in publishing and editing scientific publications (monographs, text editions, etc.). 

- Profound knowledge in (Jewish) philosophy.The applicant's research should be directly connected to a field relevant to the Maimonides Centre's research focus. 

- Applicants not proficient in German are expected to acquire proficiency in due time. 

Severely disabled applicants will receive preference over equally qualified non-disabled applicants. 

For further information, please contact Maria Wazinski, M.A. (maria.wazinski@uni-hamburg.de) or consult the Centre's website at https://www.maimonides-centre.uni-hamburg.de/en.html. 

Applications should include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and copies of degree certificate(s), a publication list and two recommendation letters. The application deadline is 20.09.2016. 

Please send applications to: maria.wazinski@uni-hamburg.de. Interviews will be held in October 2016.

The Hiddenness Argument

John Schellenberg (Mount Stain Vincent University) recently published another book in philosophy of religion: The Hiddenness Argument: Philosophy's New Challenge to Belief in God (OUP, 2015).

Skepticism in Kant

The latest issue of the European Journal of Philosophy (42/2, 2016) contains Owen Ware's “Skepticism in Kant's Groundwork.” It can be found here.

Again on the Scope of Sextus's Skepticism

The latest issue of the Italian journal Syzetesis (III/1, 2016) contains Massimo Catapano's “Natura e storia nello scetticismo urbano di Sesto Empirico.” I don't know how good the article is because haven't had the time to read it yet, but you can access the entire issue for free here.

New Issue of Sképsis

Issue 13 of the Brazilian journal Sképsis is now out. You can access it for free here.

Wittgenstein and Skepticism

There's a new entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy dealing with Wittgenstein's views on skepticism and recent Wittgenstein-inspired anti-skeptical strategies: Wittgenstein: Epistemology, by Nicola Claudio Salvatore (University of Campinas).

Some Videos on Skepticism

You can find here a few videos, mainly in Portuguese, dealing with various forms of skepticism.

Sextus on Dogmatic Logic

I've just found out about this paper by Emidio Spinelli (Rome): “Sesto Empirico contro alcuni strumenti dogmatici del vero,” Humanitas 71 (2016): 136-148. I haven't found any link to an online version.

Book Symposium on Sosa's Judgement and Agency

The latest issue of the Brazilian journal Analytica (nº 19, 2015) contains a book symposium on Ernesto Sosa's Judgement and Agency. You can read it for free here.

Pyrrhonism and Buddhism

I've just found out about this talk about Sextus Empiricus and Madhyamaka given by Matthew Neale (Cambridge) at Oxford last year.

Issue 6.2-3 of IJSS

Issue 6.2-3 of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism has just been published. It is a special issue devoted to Hinge Epistemology. Check it out here.

Sextus on Demonstration

The lastest issue of the Italian journal Elenchos (36/2, 2015) contains Emidio Spinelli's "Non si dimostra il vero: la critica di Sesto Empirico ai procedimenti apodittici." You can find it here.

Hume's Skepticism and his Social & Political Philosophy

Last year, Edinburgh University Press published Ryu Susato's Hume's Sceptical Enlightenment. A review by Angela Coventry and Alex Sager has just appeared in NDPR.

Early-View Pieces in IJSS

A few more pieces (four articles and one book review) have now been published online as early-view in the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism. You can find them here.

On Evolutionary Debunking Arguments

The latest issue of Ratio contains Daniel Crow's “A Plantingian Pickle for a Darwinian Dilemma: Evolutionary Arguments Against Atheism and Normative Realism.” You can access it here.

Blomqvist on Beckwith on Pyrrhonism and Buddhism

A few weeks ago, BMCR published a review, by Jerker Blomqvist, of Christopher Beckwith's Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia (Princeton University Press, 2015). It can be found here.

Special Issue on Skepticism

A special issue on skepticism, edited by Jan Willem Wieland, has just been published in the Dutch journal Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte (108/1, 2016). You can find the papers (all in Dutch) here. The translation of the title of my own paper, originally written in English, is “The Practical and Epistemic Value of Pyrrhonism.”

Issue 6.1 of IJSS

Issue 6.1 of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism is now out. You can find it here.

Hume's Skepticism

The latest issue of Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (92/2, 2016) includes Yuval Avnur's “Excuses for Hume's Skepticism”. You can find it here.

New Website on Ancient Skepticism

There is a new website on ancient skepticism hosted by the Universidad de Córdoba (Spain). You can check it out here.

Entry on Sextus

Volume 6 of DPhA has finally been published, after quite a few years in the making. It includes the following entry on Sextus:

Emidio Spinelli, s.v. Sextus Empiricus, in R. Goulet (ed.), Dictionnaire des philosophes antiques, vol. VI: de Sabinillus à Tyrsénos, pp. 265-300. Paris: CNRS Editions, 2016.

2017 SSS Meeting

James Beebe (Buffalo) is organizing a group session (or two) for the Society for Skeptical Studies at next year's Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (Jan 4-7, 2017, in Baltimore, MD). If you have a paper that deals with philosophical skepticism that you would like to have considered for inclusion in the SSS session(s), please send your submission to Beebe at jbeebe2@buffalo.edu by May 1, 2016.

Skepticism in Latin America

The entry “Skepticism in Latin America,” by Plínio Junqueira Smith and Otávio Bueno, has just been published in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Go here.

Neo-Pyrrhonism and the Epistemology of Disagreement

Since I don't know when the paper will be included in an issue of Synthese, I prefer to let you know now that my paper “A Neo-Pyrrhonian Response to the Disagreeing about Disagreement Argument” has just been published online. It can be found here. This is another recent paper in which I try to discuss skepticism from a point of view that is systematic rather than historico-exegetical.

Hume's Skepticism about Minds

The latest issue of The Philosophical Review (124/4) contains Jonathan Cottrell's “Minds, Composition, and Hume's Skepticism in the Appendix.” You can find it here.

Pyrrhonian Rhetoric

On January 20th (17h-19h), Emidio Spinelli (Rome) will give the following talk at the l'Université Lille 3, Campus Pont de Bois, in room Danielle Corbin (B1.661): “Rhétorique anti-rhétorique: la communication du scepticisme chez Sextus Empiricus”.

Pyrrhonism and Disagreement

After three years, my paper “Agrippan Pyrrhonism and the Challenge of Disagreement” has finally been included in an issue of Journal of Philosophical Research. You can find it here. If you don't have access and would like to have a copy, let me know.