Peter will be funded from the Philosophy of Medicine for the 21st Century grant. Click for more details.

The Florida State University Philosophy Department is pleased to announce four new faculty hires for Fall 2018: Andrea Westlund, Edward Hinchman, Michael Bokoski, and Sarah Vincent.

Tracie Mahaffey discusses her course “Fantasy Girls: Philosophical Examinations of Women and Girls in Fantasy and Science Fiction" and Piers Rawling discusses the skills learned and careers made possible by majoring in philosophy.

This year's Minorities and Philosophy Conference takes place on April 6th, 2018 in the Center for Global Engagement (110 S. Woodward Ave.) and Dodd Hall Auditorium (646 W. Jefferson St.). The keynote speaker is Dr. Lisa Miracchi (University of Pennsylvania). Find out about the program, parking, and more in this article.

Larson, E. J., & Ruse, M. (2017). On Faith and Science. Yale University Press.
Mele, A. R. (2017). Aspects of Agency: Decisions, Abilities, Explanations, and Free Will. Oxford University Press.
Ruse, M. (2016). Darwinism as Religion: What Literature Tells Us about Evolution. Oxford University Press.

The Marc Sanders Philosophy of Mind Prize has been awarded to Berislav Marusic (Brandeis) and John Schwenkler (Florida State) for their paper, “Intending is Believing.” The prize includes $10,000 and publication of the essay in Analytic Philosophy. Here is the abstract:
 

Congratulations to Simon Cabulea May, John Schwenkler, and Nathanael Stein for being granted tenure. For more information about these faculty, follow the links in their names. 

The Department of Philosophy will host the 2017 Philosophy and Science of Self-Control Conference, sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation and the William H. and Lucyle T. Werkmeister Endowment, from June 9-11, 2017, at the Augustus B. Turnbull III Conference Center. The conference program and other information will be posted closer to the date on the Conference page of the Philosophy and Science of Self-Control project website.

Philosophical theories of agency and responsibility have focused primarily on actions and activities. But, besides acting, we often omit to do or refrain from doing certain things. Omitting or refraining, like acting, can have consequences, good and bad. And we can be praiseworthy or blameworthy for omitting or refraining. However, omitting and refraining are not simply special cases of action; they require their own distinctive treatment. 

Philosophers defend theories of what well-being is but ignore what psychologists have learned about it, while psychologists learn about well-being but lack a theory of what it is. In The Good Life, Michael Bishop brings together these complementary investigations and proposes a powerful, new theory for understanding well-being.