As the days lengthen and the sun returns, things are bustling inside the Philosophy Department much as they are on the main quad outside Savery Hall. In April, we hosted our yearly Rabinowitz Symposium in Medical Ethics exploring the role of family and other loved ones in healthcare. This wonderful event will be followed by a… Read more
When Patrick Prince was 19 years old, he was sent to prison for a murder he did not commit. He was finally exonerated and released nearly 26 years later, thanks to the work of attorney David B. Owens (BA, Philosophy, Political Science, 2004) and two University of Chicago law students.
For Owens, such cases are why he became an attorney.
David Owens and his students celebrate outside the courthouse after wrongfully convicted Patrick Prince was… Read more
The UW Center for Philosophy for Children hosted the fifth annual Washington State High School Ethics Bowl on February 3rd at the UW Law School. The Center is appreciative for the generous support of Department of Philosophy faculty, students, alumni and friends who volunteered their time as judges, moderators and team coaches. Over 100 high school students and about 50 lawyers, judges, UW faculty, staff, and graduate and undergraduate students, and high school teachers were involved.
The… Read more
Last fall, graduate student Dustyn Addington launched the podcast No Narrow Thing with co-host Whitney Johnson (MPH, Yale University). No Narrow Thing bridges the theoretical and practical, applying a philosophical lens to compelling questions, big and small.
Each episodes focuses on a single line of inquiry, such as:
-Is there a duty to vote?
-Should I believe in ghosts?
-Is it ethical to gossip?
No Narrow Thing treats… Read more
This event will bring together philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists for a one-day workshop on April 28, 2018 to critically examine interpretations of probability theory in its many and varied applications. Probability theory is used widely in stochastic and dynamical systems, statistical and quantum physics, theories of rationality in epistemology, and theories of evidence and inductive inference in statistics and philosophy of science. It often happens that results or viewpoints from… Read more
Gerler Symposium on Race & Equity in Philosophy for Children
Date: Friday May 4, 2018, 9:00 am-5:00 pm
Location: HUB 334
The philosophy for children movement builds on children's curiosity about the world around them and helps young students to develop critical questioning and thinking skills through exploring philosophical topics. In philosophical discussions, children explore a wide variety of issues related to ethics, justice, freedom, mind, perception, knowledge, and aesthetics. Given… Read more
The Department of Philosophy presented "How is Scientific Cosmology Possible?" - Chris Smeenk, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Rotman Instiute of Philosophy at Western University, Ontario Canada, on October 19th, 2017.
The last century has seen enormous progress in understanding the cosmos. Yet cosmology differs from other areas of physics. It deals with a unique object, the universe as a whole, which cannot be experimentally manipulated. Due to the distinctive nature of… Read more
The Department of Philosophy hosted the Epistemology for the Real World: Navigating in an Archipelago of Alt-Epistemology and Alt-Truth Conference on January 19, 2018. Featuring the following talks:
“Calling BS in the Real World” Carl Bergstrom, Professor of Biology, University of Washington and Jevin West, Assistant Professor, Information School, University of Washington
Abstract: Our world is saturated with bullshit. Pandering politicians, manipulative advertisers, television… Read more