Author: Huenemann

Philosophy majors are encouraged to apply for the Brett E. Blanch Memorial Scholarship. Application forms can be picked up in Main 204. (Please ignore the posted deadline; we will continue to accept applications through March 18th.) To be eligible, you must be a major, have at least nine upper-division credits in Philosophy, and have a 3.5 gpa in the major. Also, since our faculty is so small, we have dispensed with the requirement of having letters of recommendation from your professors. Instead, we will just put our heads together and talk about you!

Here is an interesting philosophical profile of Stanley Cavell, a philosopher at Harvard who has been a pioneer in applying philosophical thought to materials (like music, poetry, and films) that had been long thought to be irrelevant to philosophy. A representative quote:

A philosopher who limits the meaning of her words to carefully set out definitions, attempting to root out all ambiguity, in effect says, “I say, and you should hear, only what I mean.” Cavell insists that language cannot be limited in this way. Language, to Cavell, is ambiguous not because it is imperfect, awaiting precise definition, but because we do not all see in the same way; it is a reflection of our basic predicament as distinct human beings. Thus, we must dare to mean what we say, take responsibility for all the meanings our words might be taken to have—even if those meanings go beyond what we understand as our intentions—because in our unintentional (though perhaps meaningful) slips, and the misapprehensions, mistakes, and insights of those with whom we speak, we bring together not just words but worldviews.

Submission Guidelines

Submission Deadline: March 1st, 2013 at UVUPC13@gmail.com

• Word count: 300-500 (abstract), 2500-3500 (full paper).
• Consideration for (non-cash) prizes requires full paper submissions.
• Paper should include: name, email, phone number, institution.
• Accepted Formats: .doc, .docx, .odt, PDF, LaTex. (please not Pages).
• Topics: Everything Philosophy, broadly defined.
• Conference (tentative) Dates: March 21-22, 2013.
• Please direct questions to: adam.wilson@uvu.edu
http://www.uvupc.blogspot.com

Tonight! 7 pm. Beverages, food, arguments, objections, and replies.

Helen Whitney is a documentary filmmaker who makes films about questions and problems that reach deep into the soul. She’s a big deal; for an overview, see the Wikipedia article. She is on campus this week, screening selections from her films and talking about the challenges she’s faced in making them and the issues they address. Last night I attended her presentation about films she’s made about the insane, homosexuals, a women whose life was destroyed by McCarthy zealots, and photographer Richard Avedon. She is an interesting person and a compelling lecturer, and her work is riveting.

Tonight at 7:30 in the USU Performance Hall she’s discussing and presenting clips from another film she made, “Faith and Doubt”, which concerns both 9/11 and Pope John Paul II. I haven’t seen the film, but my impression is that it addresses the complexities of religious faith. I am sure it will be of philosophical interest. And it’s free.