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Department of Philosophy

Events

The Department is active in sponsoring and hosting events for our students, faculty, and the public.  All are invited to publicly advertised events.  Past events can be seen via the links in the menu.

Upcoming Events on Fall 2025:


Rima Basu (Claremont McKenna College) 

"Ignorance as Epistemic Etiquette "
Sept 19, C-HIPP 791, 3:30 PM

To call someone ignorant is to insult them. It is not surprising then that much of the philosophical literature on ignorance has focused on its harms. In this paper, I argue that there are morally laudable cases of ignorance qua ignorance. Ignorance, as a kind of epistemic etiquette, protects inquiry from turning into an inquisition, questioning from turning into prying. When we indulge in overcuriosity we risk a range of inquisitive wrongs, we risk failing to give others the respect they are owed not just in how we act towards them, but also in how they figure in our inquiries. Two complications arise, however, in determining how to understand ignorance as epistemic etiquette. First, many examples of hermeneutical injustice rely on the disadvantaged not questioning the status quo, of not being curious. Second, to determine whether one should be ignorant about p may require inquiring into p in the first place. Despite these challenges, I posit epistemic etiquette as a promising resource for distinguishing one class of morally permissible ignorance. 


Robert P. George and Cornel West

"A Public Conversation"
Sept 12, tbd, 6:30 PM

John Witte (Emory)

"Constitution Day Lecture"
Sept 17, tbd, 6PM

John Witte (Emory)

"Lunchtime Lecture"
Sept 18, tbd, tbd

Matthew Smith (Northeastern University)

"tbd"
Oct 3, CLHIPP 791, 3:30 PM

Scott Schapiro (Yale)

"tbd"
Oct 16, SCHLAW 121, 3:30 PM

Barry Loewer (Rutgers University)

"tbd"
Oct 24, CLHIPP 791, 3:30 PM

Matthew Brown (Southern Illinois University)

"tbd"
Nov 14, CLHIPP 791, 3:30 PM

Yuval Levin

"Can the Constitution Unify Americans"
Nov 18, tbd, tbd

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

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