http://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/misc/johnlocke/index.shtml for an archive of the Locke lectures - very interesting listening..
Dave
Friday, September 21, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Welcome!
Just a quick post to welcome the new intake of Religion, Philosophy & Ethics students - who we meet tomorrow...
On behalf of myself, Dee, Alison, Roy, Melissa and Nigel (and the others you will have from time to time) - we hope all goes well in Induction week - and that students from years 2 and 3 will join in welcoming you...
Dave
On behalf of myself, Dee, Alison, Roy, Melissa and Nigel (and the others you will have from time to time) - we hope all goes well in Induction week - and that students from years 2 and 3 will join in welcoming you...
Dave
Friday, September 14, 2007
RPE 307
For those of you keen to make a start on Beyond Good and Evil (and why shouldn't you be!) we will be using the translation by Marion Faber, published by Oxford University Press. Translations do vary quite a bit so it's best we all follow the same one. In terms of commentaries, take your choice from either Laurence Lampert or Douglas Burnham, or both if you're feeling particularly flush at the moment! Looking forward to it and remember that the text is open to interpretation and it's your understanding of it that I'm particularly interested in!
For Nietzsche 'Fans'
Check out the Nietzsche Circle. Their 'vision statement' is: 'To create an intellectual and artistic community whereby individuals of similar spirit and vision may come together and explore Nietzsche’s philosophy, developing ways in which it can be transfigured.' It's good particularly for book reviews and essays on Nietzsche. Also, Brian Leiter (who has written an excellent book on Nietzsche's moral philosophy) has started up a new Nietzsche blog.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Natural?
Hi.
As part of our induction activities for new students next week, we shall be asking them what is meant by term 'natural': what does it mean to talk of an 'unnatural' practice - especially as an evaluative moral term?
We shall be spending some time at a place where people go to spend time in 'nature' (Westonbirt Arboretum) - what does it mean to call such a place 'natural'? - And does spending time in such places assist us in reflection? I (and the new students) would appreciate any thoughts - or indeed references - that will help us think this through...
Comments welcome via the blog..
Dave
As part of our induction activities for new students next week, we shall be asking them what is meant by term 'natural': what does it mean to talk of an 'unnatural' practice - especially as an evaluative moral term?
We shall be spending some time at a place where people go to spend time in 'nature' (Westonbirt Arboretum) - what does it mean to call such a place 'natural'? - And does spending time in such places assist us in reflection? I (and the new students) would appreciate any thoughts - or indeed references - that will help us think this through...
Comments welcome via the blog..
Dave
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
New Author - Emily Ryall
Hello everyone, and thanks to Dave for trusting that I'm not going to abuse my privileges as a site author.
For those of you that are unaware of the fact: believe it or not, the Sport, Health and Social Care students do have a philosophy strand to their courses (it's not all running about on the astroturf!) - and that is where I come in. So let me introduce myself. Although my background was originally in Philosophy and Linguistics I am now lecturing over at Oxstalls mainly on the Sports & Exercise Science, and Sports Development degrees. This year I will be taking over the Sports Ethics modules (SV201 and SV302) which will hopefully be the forum for some very stimulating discussion surrounding the issues of violence, doping, and cheating in sport, as well as other aspects; for instance, the relationship between politics and ethics in sporting events. As both of these are on the RPE pathway I hope I would not offend my colleagues at FCH too much in encouraging the RPE students to take up the opportunity of one of these modules.
Additionally, I will be setting up a philosophy and ethics reading group in the University. It is anticipated that this will be a very informal session where we can attempt to comprehend and discuss issues in selected texts. More details will follow in the near future but I hope our first meeting to be around Week 2 of term. Again, I would encourage any interested parties to participate.
Other than that, you can find out more about me and my research interests on either my own website: www.emilyryall.net or on the official faculty page (which also has a very cheesy photo of me!).
For those of you that are unaware of the fact: believe it or not, the Sport, Health and Social Care students do have a philosophy strand to their courses (it's not all running about on the astroturf!) - and that is where I come in. So let me introduce myself. Although my background was originally in Philosophy and Linguistics I am now lecturing over at Oxstalls mainly on the Sports & Exercise Science, and Sports Development degrees. This year I will be taking over the Sports Ethics modules (SV201 and SV302) which will hopefully be the forum for some very stimulating discussion surrounding the issues of violence, doping, and cheating in sport, as well as other aspects; for instance, the relationship between politics and ethics in sporting events. As both of these are on the RPE pathway I hope I would not offend my colleagues at FCH too much in encouraging the RPE students to take up the opportunity of one of these modules.
Additionally, I will be setting up a philosophy and ethics reading group in the University. It is anticipated that this will be a very informal session where we can attempt to comprehend and discuss issues in selected texts. More details will follow in the near future but I hope our first meeting to be around Week 2 of term. Again, I would encourage any interested parties to participate.
Other than that, you can find out more about me and my research interests on either my own website: www.emilyryall.net or on the official faculty page (which also has a very cheesy photo of me!).
Essay Competition
University of Kentucky
Fifth Annual Prize Essay Competition in
European Philosophy from Kant to the Present
TOPIC: The Implications of Bio-Medical Technology for
Human Nature
This topic may be addressed historically, systematically, or through any combination of these two approaches. The winning essay will receive a prize of $1000 and, upon recommendation of the selection committee, be published in Inquiry. The author of the winning essay will also be brought to the University of Kentucky in the Fall of 2008 to present it.
The winner of the first four annual Prize Essay Competitions were Sami Pihlström (University of Helsinki), Robert Guay (Binghamton University), Helder De Schutter (University of Leuven), and Herbert de Vriese (University of Antwerp) for their essays “Recent Reinterpretations of ‘The Transcendental’ Revisited” (Inquiry 47, No. 3 [2004]), “The ‘I’s Have It: Nietzsche on Subjectivity” (Inquiry 49, No. 3 [2006]), “Nations without Nationalism” (Inquiry 50, No. 4 [2007]), and “The Myth of the Metaphysical Circle.”
Essays will be judged by a process of blind review. Submissions should be appropriately formatted for such a process, with the author's name and other identifying information appearing only on a separate cover sheet. Essays should be double spaced, in English, and no more than 8000 words in length. Past and present faculty and students at the University of Kentucky are ineligible to compete. Submissions should not have been previously published or submitted for publication.
The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2008. Essays should be submitted in triplicate in typed (hard copy) form to Ms. Katie Barrett, Department of Philosophy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0027 USA. No electronic submissions please.
Fifth Annual Prize Essay Competition in
European Philosophy from Kant to the Present
TOPIC: The Implications of Bio-Medical Technology for
Human Nature
This topic may be addressed historically, systematically, or through any combination of these two approaches. The winning essay will receive a prize of $1000 and, upon recommendation of the selection committee, be published in Inquiry. The author of the winning essay will also be brought to the University of Kentucky in the Fall of 2008 to present it.
The winner of the first four annual Prize Essay Competitions were Sami Pihlström (University of Helsinki), Robert Guay (Binghamton University), Helder De Schutter (University of Leuven), and Herbert de Vriese (University of Antwerp) for their essays “Recent Reinterpretations of ‘The Transcendental’ Revisited” (Inquiry 47, No. 3 [2004]), “The ‘I’s Have It: Nietzsche on Subjectivity” (Inquiry 49, No. 3 [2006]), “Nations without Nationalism” (Inquiry 50, No. 4 [2007]), and “The Myth of the Metaphysical Circle.”
Essays will be judged by a process of blind review. Submissions should be appropriately formatted for such a process, with the author's name and other identifying information appearing only on a separate cover sheet. Essays should be double spaced, in English, and no more than 8000 words in length. Past and present faculty and students at the University of Kentucky are ineligible to compete. Submissions should not have been previously published or submitted for publication.
The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2008. Essays should be submitted in triplicate in typed (hard copy) form to Ms. Katie Barrett, Department of Philosophy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0027 USA. No electronic submissions please.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
20,000 and counting
So - we hit over 20,000 for page hits to the blog - thanks to all those who have joined in, as we almost get to the 1-year birthday of the R-P-E blog.
I am hoping that two new authors will begin to post with me here soon. Emily Ryall and Roy Jackon - both philosophers here at the University of Gloucestershire. We will shortly welcome new students - and look forward to another busy year of blogging...
Cheers, Dave
I am hoping that two new authors will begin to post with me here soon. Emily Ryall and Roy Jackon - both philosophers here at the University of Gloucestershire. We will shortly welcome new students - and look forward to another busy year of blogging...
Cheers, Dave
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Fair Use and Copyright - video
This is interesting on copyright and 'fair use'.... if you can follow it!
Dave
Dave
Monday, September 03, 2007
Religion and Public Opinion
An article on the Times website reports on a YouGov poll that finds that:
Is this a contradiction? These two halves are unlikely to be precisely exclusive - so a number of people clearly take the view that there is a God (or 'something') - but that the human response to this (if that is what we cal religion) is harmful... I guess it brings us to the question: can we have 'God without religion'? (and would we want it...)
NEARLY half the British think that religion is harmful, according to a poll
carried out by YouGov. Yet more than half also believe in God “or
something”.
Is this a contradiction? These two halves are unlikely to be precisely exclusive - so a number of people clearly take the view that there is a God (or 'something') - but that the human response to this (if that is what we cal religion) is harmful... I guess it brings us to the question: can we have 'God without religion'? (and would we want it...)
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Running Away..
http://www.10ksponsorme.org/davidwebster - for anyone with spare cash to donate to charity!
[image is not my actual legs; for illustrative purposes only...]
Shameless Self Promotion...
In case readers are interested, both in general terms, and because of a piece entitled Even Philosophers Get the Blues, see this press release (also available from Amazon, etc):
The impact of African American music on western, white popular music is well documented. But while much has been written about the influences of black music on early rock n’ roll and the explosion of British popular music in the 1960s, little has been said about the earlier, and broader, effects.
Cross the Water Blues: African American Music in Europe (University Press of Mississippi) is a unique collection of essays examining the flow of African American music and musicians across the Atlantic to Europe from the time of slavery to the 20th century.
Editor Neil Wynn has assembled a broad exploration of different musical forms such as spirituals, blues, jazz, skiffle, and orchestral music. The contributors consider the reception and influence of black music on a number of different European audiences, particularly in Britain, but also France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The essayists approach the subject through diverse historical, musicological, and philosophical perspectives. A number of essays document little-known performances and recordings of African American musicians in Europe. Several pieces, including one by Paul Oliver, focus on the appeal of the blues to British listeners. At the same time, these considerations often reveal the ambiguous nature of European responses to black music and in so doing add to our knowledge of transatlantic race relations.
Contributions from Christopher G. Bakriges, Sean Creighton, Jeffrey Green, Leighton Grist, Bob Groom, Rainer E. Lotz, Paul Oliver, Catherine Parsonage, Iris Schmeisser, Roberta Freund Schwartz, Robert Springer, Rupert Till, Guido van Rijn, David Webster, and Neil A. Wynn
Neil A. Wynn is professor of twentieth-century American history at the University of Gloucestershire. He is the author of Historical Dictionary from the Great War to the Great Depression, From Progressivism to Prosperity: World War I and American Society, and The Afro-American and the Second World War.
For more information contact Clint Kimberling, Publicist, at ckimberling@ihl.state.ms.us
Read more about Cross the Water Blues: African American Music in Europe at: http://www.upress.state.ms.us/catalog/spring2007/cross_the_water_blues.html
Essays prove the Blues was an African American invasion of European music.
The impact of African American music on western, white popular music is well documented. But while much has been written about the influences of black music on early rock n’ roll and the explosion of British popular music in the 1960s, little has been said about the earlier, and broader, effects.
Cross the Water Blues: African American Music in Europe (University Press of Mississippi) is a unique collection of essays examining the flow of African American music and musicians across the Atlantic to Europe from the time of slavery to the 20th century.
Editor Neil Wynn has assembled a broad exploration of different musical forms such as spirituals, blues, jazz, skiffle, and orchestral music. The contributors consider the reception and influence of black music on a number of different European audiences, particularly in Britain, but also France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The essayists approach the subject through diverse historical, musicological, and philosophical perspectives. A number of essays document little-known performances and recordings of African American musicians in Europe. Several pieces, including one by Paul Oliver, focus on the appeal of the blues to British listeners. At the same time, these considerations often reveal the ambiguous nature of European responses to black music and in so doing add to our knowledge of transatlantic race relations.
Contributions from Christopher G. Bakriges, Sean Creighton, Jeffrey Green, Leighton Grist, Bob Groom, Rainer E. Lotz, Paul Oliver, Catherine Parsonage, Iris Schmeisser, Roberta Freund Schwartz, Robert Springer, Rupert Till, Guido van Rijn, David Webster, and Neil A. Wynn
Neil A. Wynn is professor of twentieth-century American history at the University of Gloucestershire. He is the author of Historical Dictionary from the Great War to the Great Depression, From Progressivism to Prosperity: World War I and American Society, and The Afro-American and the Second World War.
For more information contact Clint Kimberling, Publicist, at ckimberling@ihl.state.ms.us
Read more about Cross the Water Blues: African American Music in Europe at: http://www.upress.state.ms.us/catalog/spring2007/cross_the_water_blues.html
Friday, August 17, 2007
'Properly Basic' Beliefs and the Existence of God
Over at Go Grue they have been having a fascinating discussion regarding Alvin Plantinga'a treatment of whether belief in God is 'properly basic'.. The nature of the way the authors deal with the argument will also be of interest, I think, to Philosophy students..
The link is: http://gogrue.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/plantinga-on-whether-belief-that-god-exists-is-properly-basic/
Dave
The link is: http://gogrue.wordpress.com/2007/08/13/plantinga-on-whether-belief-that-god-exists-is-properly-basic/
Dave
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Where do philosophers go?
We were very pleased with the success of our call for accounts of how people started out as philosphers - how they ended up in this profession / calling / vocation/ etc - see http://r-p-e.blogspot.com/2007/05/starting-out-as-philosopher-and-levels.html - for people's stories: some very intriguing ones.
I thought it might be of interest to see where - after starting out - people felt the study of philosophy had taken them in their lives: and the impact thereupon (a real word?)...
comment welcome via the blog here...
Dave
I thought it might be of interest to see where - after starting out - people felt the study of philosophy had taken them in their lives: and the impact thereupon (a real word?)...
comment welcome via the blog here...
Dave
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Another year...
As A-level results loom, some of us are preparing for clearing - the annual round of last-minute scrambling for places... [mind you - we do at least now have potable running water back]
Here at the University of Gloucestershire - in (really) sunny Cheltenham - we are preparing for the first run of year three of the Religion, Philosophy & Ethics course. We are also welcoming another intake of first years (though we may have places through clearing - see http://www.ucas.com/clearing/vacancy.html for details on the process - or contact us via e-mail).
For current students - please use http://www.glos.ac.uk/timetables/index.cfm to see the timetable, and student records to choose your modules. Remember that those entering levels 2 and 3 will need 4 modules per semester...
Hope you are all having a good summer...
Dave
Here at the University of Gloucestershire - in (really) sunny Cheltenham - we are preparing for the first run of year three of the Religion, Philosophy & Ethics course. We are also welcoming another intake of first years (though we may have places through clearing - see http://www.ucas.com/clearing/vacancy.html for details on the process - or contact us via e-mail).
For current students - please use http://www.glos.ac.uk/timetables/index.cfm to see the timetable, and student records to choose your modules. Remember that those entering levels 2 and 3 will need 4 modules per semester...
Hope you are all having a good summer...
Dave
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)