Westmont College Philosophy

Again, it is possible to fail in many ways (for evil belongs to the class of the unlimited and good to that of the limited), while to succeed is possible only in one way (for which reason also one is easy and the other difficultto miss the mark easy, to hit it difficult); for these reasons also, then, excess and defect are characteristic of vice, and the mean of virtue; For men are good in but one way, but bad in many. Aristotle Book II, 1106.b28 - Nicomachean Ethics

You are warmly invited to the Philosophy Department’s first ever Virtual Lecture next, by distinguished philosopher, Robert Audi. Date: Thursday, September 17 TONIGHT! Time: 4:00pm (Pacific)... Title: "The Church, the State, and the Citizen: Faith and Reason in the Ethics of Citizenship" Type of event: Virtual Lecture followed by Q&A Platform: Zoom meeting Audi holds the John A. O'Brien Chair of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. He is a prolific author, well known for his work in epistemology, ethics, and action theory, but also for his work in political philosophy, including his 1997 book (co-authored with Nicholas Wolterstorff) Religion in the Public Square: The Place of Religious Convictions in Political Debate. https://westmont.zoom.us/j/93287539625 Abstract: The First Amendment of the United States Constitution famously states in part, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. ... How are these two provisions related? Do they presuppose that democracy should be secular? Does the implicit church-state separation require government neutrality toward religion? How free is free exercise? Should individuals also separate the religious and the political? Religious citizens often want to be guided by their faith in shaping their society; but given that they live with others of different religions (or none), should their political conduct be guided mainly by secular standards? To say yes seems to limit religious liberty. To say no seems to risk religious conflict or even domination by a majority religious group. These are some of the timely questions that Professor Audi will be considering.

Immediately after leading my students through a tutorial on Peter Singer's famous essay, "Famine, Affluence and Morality", this is what I saw on Facebook! https://www.youtube.com/watch

Guess what his major was?! https://www.theguardian.com//realised-dream-italy-oldest-g

Today's Philosophical Birthday: Ruth Barcan Marcus (1921-2012), professor at Northwestern and later Yale, whose pioneering work in logic (especially quantified modal logic), metaphysics (especially essentialism), and philosophy of language (theory of names & reference), anticipated ideas for which other philosophers (men, usually) got the credit. Here's a link to her NYT obituary: https://www.nytimes.com//ruth-barcan-marcus-philosopher-lo