Category Archives: news

Prof. Coseru Awarded NEH Summer Institute Grant

Christian Coseru was awarded $164,585 to stage a two-week “Self-Knowledge in Eastern and Western Philosophies” Summer Institute in 2018. Professors Jay Garfield of Smith College and Harvard University, and Evan Thompson of the University of British Columbia will co-direct the institute, which will also involve contributions by 14 distinguished faculty from major universities in the United States, Denmark, Austria, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Prof. McKinnon’s Book The Norms of Assertion Published

Professor Rachel McKinnon’s book The Norms of Assertion: Truth, Lies, and Warrant has been published by Palgrave MacMillan Press.

From the publisher:

Suppose that you ask me what time an upcoming meeting starts, and I say, ‘4 p.m.’ Whenever we make claims like this, we’re asserting. If the meeting is really at 3:30 p.m., you’ll be late, and probably rather upset that I told you the wrong time. In some sense, it seems like I’m on the hook for having said something false. This sense that I’ve done something wrong suggests that there are certain standards of evaluating assertions: a way of distinguishing between good and bad, appropriate and inappropriate. We call these standards norms.

This book is about the norms of assertion. Various philosophers have typically attempted to articulate the level of epistemic support required for properly asserting. Some argue, for example, that one must know what one asserts. Others argue that one merely needs to justifiably believe what one asserts–an epistemic standing weaker than knowledge. The purpose of this book is to defend what I propose as the central norm governing our practice of assertion, which I call the Supportive Reasons Norm (SRN).

In rough outline, the standards for warrantedly asserting shift with changes in context, although knowledge is never required for warrantedly asserting. In fact, in some special contexts, speakers may warrantedly lie. This latter feature particularly sets apart my view from others in the debate.

Congratulation to Our Newest Alumni

On a beautiful spring day (May 16), nine philosophy majors walked across the Cistern to receive their diplomas and join the ranks of CofC alumni.  (Four additional        students completed their degrees, but chose not to attend the commencement ceremonies).  It is a privilege to be able to teach such fine young men and women.  Congratulations to our 2015 graduates and award winners!

2015 Graduates: (double major noted in parentheses)

Chris Carron (Psychology)
Gabriel Davidson
Patrick Ferri
Matt Fiacco
Thomas Garrison
Jason Herman
Jillian Patton
William Price (Political Science)
Nick Schloss
Rebecca Stanley (Political Science)
Erin Trent
Jordan van Horn
Jake Webb (Math; Honors College)
2015 Award Winners: The following award winners were recognized at a departmental luncheon.

Outstanding Students: Jordan van Horn, Chris Carron

Departmental Honors: Jake Webb

HSS Scholars: Rebecca Stanley and Jake Webb
Career Plans: Gabriel Davidson and Jake Webb have accepted teaching positions (in Baltimore, MD and France, respectively).  William Price will attend the University of Connecticut Law School.  Chris Carron, Patrick Ferri, Thomas Garrison Rebecca Stanley, Jordan van Horn, and Jake Webb all plan to apply to graduate or professional schools, with interests in philosophy, psychology, law school, and the ministry.

2015 GraduationAward Lunch IAward Lunch II

Prof. Mckinnon giving keynote at McMaster University Sexual Harassment in Academia and the Workplace conference

Prof. Rachel McKinnon gave the keynote talk yesterday at the Sexual Harassment in Academia and the Workplace conference/workshop held at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) held by CUPE 3906. Her talk was titled, “Allies Behaving Badly,” which will be appearing as a paper, “Allies Behaving Badly: Gaslighting as Epistemic Injustice” in the Routledge Handbook on Epistemic Injustice.