Philosophy explorations

An invitation for a little dabble into Philosophy to see whether you would like to enrol in a UC Philosophy course.

Nick Bostrom's website

The Doomsday argument

The simulation argument

The Buridan's
Ass paradox (free will)

The blind watchmaker

Pascal's wager

Interactive section

Who is acting morally?

Games philosophers play

Welcome to Philosophy

Philosophy will be enjoyed by anyone who is fascinated by ideas, who likes to think and to explore, who is curious, and who wants to know where in the great marketplace of the world's ideas truth might be reasonably found. It is not just an academic subject, but addresses the puzzles that arise in everyone's life. Its aim is to enable you to think rationally, lucidly, independently and critically, to discuss intelligently, and to argue cogently.

No experience required!

Philosophy offers an array of courses in its 'absolute beginners' series - courses with NO special background required. Each course provides an enjoyable entrée into the fascinating world of philosophical thinking.

Studying Philosophy

Here are a few typical philosophical questions:

• Was the universe created by God or is it a wholly natural system? Is there life after death? Can science tell us everything there is to know about the world?
• What is consciousness? Could a plant be conscious? Can a spider think? Can computers think? Could a machine ever be conscious and have free will? Are human beings just soft, cuddly computers?
• What is knowledge? What is truth? Do we know that there are any minds other than our own?
• What is goodness? What is justice? Are moral beliefs merely matters of personal opinion, or are some actions really good or really bad?
• What is art? Can we learn anything from art, and if we do, do we learn from it in the way that we learn from science? Can works of art be objectively good or bad, or are artistic tastes purely personal?

A Philosophy degree in the workplace

The intellectual skills Philosophy teaches provide an excellent preparation for success in many different careers which require people who demonstrate an ability to think and write clearly and who are intellectually adaptable. Philosophy graduates find employment in the public service, education and business. Overseas studies have shown that philosophy students are more successful in obtaining employment than graduates in many other subjects, and have a high success rate for entry to graduate professional programmes.

News

Congratulations to Professor Jack Copeland who has been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
<more>

On 2 November, Jack Copeland gave the Gibbons Public Lecture at the University of Auckland at the invitation of the Department of Computer Science in association with the NZ Computer Society.

At the end of October, a BBC2 documentary Code-Breakers: Bletchley Park's Lost Heroes produced by Julian Carey and partly based on one of Jack's books went to air in the UK to an audience of 2.5 million. Jack advised on the script and appears in the programme and it was the pick of the day in many of the British daily papers.

Applications for the UC College of Arts Honours Scholarships are now open. Further information, regulations, and application form:
http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/scholarshipsearch/
ScholarshipDetails.aspx?ScholarshipID=6935.87

Call for papers
Varieties of Possibility: Logical, Metaphysical, Epistemic and Practical
The 12th Annual University of Toronto Graduate Conference in Philosophy, 30-31 March 2012
Deadline for submission 5 January 2012
Submissions through EasyChair <more>

23rd World Congress of Philosophy
10 August 2013 in Athens, Greece
Congress website

Carolyn Mason has been appointed as the ethicist on ECART (Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology). This ethics committee work will overlap with the teaching she is down to do in Phil240 Bioethics next year.

The Journal of Leeds University Philosophical Society second issue call for submissions. <more>

Alumni news

Michael Bycroft is mid-way through his HAPS (History & Philosophy of Science) PhD with good funding at Cambridge concerning experimental science.

Stephanie Woods (HAPS) has now completed Harvard LLM with work connecting science and the law.

Sagar Sanyal has been awarded an
18-month research-only position with
CAPPE at Melbourne.

Joe Saunders (Philosophy) has been accepted, with good funding, to the PhD programme at Sheffield.

Hamish Bridges has been accepted at Oxford.

The Australasian Association of Philosophy Conference 2011 will take place at Otago University in Dunedin New Zealand from 3 to 8 July. This is a joint conference with the AAP New Zealand Division. Registrations and abstracts of papers are now being accepted with a closing date of 15 June.