Norman Kretzmann Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Logos is excited to announce the first ever Norman Kretzmann Undergraduate Philosophy Conference!

It will take place on March 23rd, 2024 at the Cornell Ithaca Campus.

The conference will feature two keynote speakers:

David Shoemaker from Cornell delivering the talk “Quarrels and Cracks: On the Values of Comic Distraction” from 10-11am:

Professor Shoemaker’s slides can be found here: QuarrelsAndCracks(LOGOS)

Quarrels and wisecracks are familiar exchanges that can take place only within interpersonal life. Quarrels are conflicts that typically occur only between friends, family, and those with whom we are personally engaged and whose attitudes toward us matter. Wisecracks are bits of improvised wit—banter, teasing, mockery, and ball busting—that also require a certain kind and degree of interpersonal engagement (note the following odd but revealing comment: “I can’t tease her like that; I barely even know her!”). Quarrels and cracks are, though, mutually exclusive. People know their quarrel is basically over once they start being amused by each others’ wisecracks again, and if you’re enjoying wisecracks with each other, it’s very hard, if not impossible, to quarrel at the same time. Why is this and what does it mean for interpersonal conflict? 

In this talk, I’ll take a deep dive into the nature of quarreling anger and wisecracking humor to explore the unrecognized—and valuable—role they both play in our interpersonal lives. My main focus will be on humor, which hasn’t been discussed before in this context. I’ll talk about what makes things funny, the close connection between having a good sense of humor and a good sense of morality (drawn from discussion of psychopaths and narcissists), how (and why!) to find the funny in misery, tragedy, and conflict, how humor reveals our shared humanity, and the way in which humor can operate to dissolve quarreling anger. Who says philosophy isn’t practical?

Michael Smith from Princeton, talk “There is a Single True Morality” from 3-4pm:

Humean and Kantian views of reasons for action differ in significant ways. I will argue that the differences between them can be traced to their very different conceptions of what ideal agents and the world in which they live would have to be like. When we see the differences between them in this light, it becomes clear that the Kantian’s view is more plausible than the Humean’s. This in turn provides us with the crucial premise in arguments for two conclusions: first, that morality provides us with reasons for action, and second, that there is a single true morality.

It will also include four undergraduate colloquium speakers, speaking from 11:30am-12:30pm:

“What We Owe Wild Animals” – Ryan Baylon, Northeastern University

“Cognitive Empathy and Autistic Agency: A Humean View” – Ethan Kovnat, Cornell University

“Restroom Conflicts, Bodies & Somatophobia” – Marina Senderos Garcia, Barnard College

“Where are the True Colors?” – Davie Zhou, University of Pennsylvania

We’ll also have an undergraduate poster session, 1:15-3pm.

Poster session 1 will include:

  • From Kant to the Catwalk
  • Epistemolo-GPT: Large Language Models as Platonic Thinkers
  • Less is More: Making the Case for Minimizing Gender
  • The Ineffable Non-Psychological Self
  • Consumer’s Dilemma: Challenges For Human Agency in a Capitalist World
  • The Self from Heideggerian and Kierkegaardian Perspectives
  • The Perils of Social Media, Mass Culture, and Individuality: A Commentary into the Arendtian Vita Activa and the World

Poster session 2 will include:

  • Conscientious Objection in Healthcare and Ethical Considerations for Gender-affirming Care Practices
  • Aristotle on Machine Agent Rationality
  • The Property Contract: The Role of Property in Social Contract Theory
  • The Myth of the Underground Man
  • Philosophical Dilemmas from Artificial Decision-Making: Revisiting Timeless Solutions in the Age of AI.
  • Bullshit, Bullshitter and Intentions
  • How Empirical Observations of the Cosmos can be Predicted with A Priori Knowledge

Registration is closed.

If you wish to spend the night in Ithaca, helpful information regarding lodging can be found here.