Philosophy News and Events

Spring 2026 Flyer

 

Fall 2025 Guest Speakers

A white and red background with "University of arkansas, department of philosophy, philosophy guest speaker, dr. gina schouten, harvard university "homelessness, liberal legitimacy, and the moral truth"." in the white section. inside a little oblong oval it says "philosophy.uark.edu" under that is a picture of a smiling white woman with red hair. Next to the picture in another oval is "date" with a grey box along the second half of the page. In the grey box is "friday 19 september, 2025 with a white line above 3:00pm-5:00pm" under that is a red box that says "201 old main giffels auditorium" next to that red box in the grey box is " for questions please email us or come by the philosophy office in old main 318. phildept@uark.edu"         a white background that has "department of philosophy colloquium, join us for a philosophical analysis and discussion of structural injustice, wrrongdoing, and reactive attitudes (such as resentment) with harvard alumna and university of pittsburgh professor of philosophy japa pallikkathayil.". In a blue rounded corner rectangle at the top right corner in light blue that says "philosophy.uark.edu" beneath a line is an image of a brown woman with dark hair smiling in an oval frame on a light blue background. on the right side is a clear box that says "friday october 3rd 3:00-5:00pm GRAD 163 Graduate Education Auditorium" beneath the text it says "dr. japa pallikkathayil university of pittsburgh" underneath the image is a text on the left side of the poster saying "Colloquium sturcture" with two bullet points. point one reads "1 hour lecture" point two reads "1 hour q&a" on the light blue square with rounded squares there is an abrstact for the talk. on the left hand of the poser, is "contact us for more information: phildept@uark.edu or Drop by Old main 318"      

a white background with green and gold shapes around the edges. text reads "philosophy colloquium "belief:the primary relation"." with a black line underneath, under the line it says "date and time friday, november 7 3:00-5:00pm" next to this is a square image with rounded corners of a white man with large yellow sunglasses smiling at the viewer. underneath the image it says "guest speaker dr. eric mandelbaum city university of new york colloquium structure:" with two bullet points below. the first bullet point says "1 hour lecture" and the second bullet point says "1 hour q&a" in a green oval like shape on the left hand side of the poster near the bottom it says "grad ed auditorium grad 0163" at the bottom of the poster there is a dark green banner that says "contact: phildept@uark.edu or 318 Main"       a black and white picture from the back of a classroom with a yellow box on the bottom half, is the background. In a yellow oblong oval it says "philosophy colloquium" next to that is a white box with a clock inside of it and "1 hour lecture, 1 hour q & a" underneath it. Below that with a black band around it says "201 old main giffels auditorium" under that is another white box that says "friday, november 14 300-5:00pm" on the other side of the page is a white box that says " "what does it mean to implement an algorithm?" Guest speaker Dr. Thomas Icard Stanford University" Under that is a picture of a white man with dark hair. Next to the picture is a black retangle that has an absrtact inside. Across the bottom of the poster is a black box that says "for more information: phildept@uark.edu  

 

 

Spring 2025 Guest Speakers

A cream background with navy decal on the front, inside with white text reads "why do we die? aristotle and aquinas on death's cause, dr. christopher frey, university of tulsa" underneath that is a medium brown rectangle with "philosophy department speaker series. place: giffels auditorium main 201. time: 3:30pm to 5:30pm. Date: friday, January 31st." with an abstract reading "Life does not entail death. though their conceptions of god differ radically. aristotle and aquinas agree that god is both alive and necessarily eternal so why do we die? why can't we be immortal? aquinas maintains that material causes explain both senescence and death. an organism's tissues and inanimate bodies possess the same material capacities, and the unhindered exercises of these capacities will, over time, disrupt the organism's matter and soul are, on this account, engaged in a constant struggle. and in this struggle, matter always prevails. though many attribute the same veiw to aristotle, i develop an alternative interpretation according to which an organism's soul is ultimately responsible for its mortality. the coming to be, development, and full realization of a living organism is a unitary, natural activity that is intrinsically unstable. being enmattered is not inconsistent with immortality. but being human (or an animal, or a plant) is." underneath the medium brown box is a outlined box that has "for more information, email phildept@uark.edu or drop by our office at main 318" inside.             A pink flyer with "the department of philosophy proudly presents dr. richard moran harvard university the 2025 kraemer lecture. date: thursday spril 3rd, 2025. Time: 6:30pm-9pm. Location: giffels auditorium main 201. self love: the very idea. abstract: it is often said, by philosophers and others, that our most fundamental motivation is egoistic, or as it is sometimes put, the 'motive of self-love'. but is it in fact quite unclear whether such a claim is true, either about how we are or about what we have reason to do. in this talk i examine arguments against this assumption, bringing together bishop joseph butler, john rawls and jean-paul sarte which enable us to see what is misleading in the very description 'self-love'." at the bottom is a maroon outlinde square that has "for more information: email phildept@uark.edu or drop by our office at main318" 

      on a lilac background, in a filled in dark purple box with a yellow dotted border there reads, "the department of philosophy presents", under that is a dark purple outlined box with yellow dots that has a set of theatre masks inside with "dr. david shoemaker, cornell university, "finding funny: amusement, anger, and the wide-ranging power of empathy" location: giffels auditorium old main main201. date: friday march 7th, 2025. time: 3:30pm to 5:30pm" at the bottom of the flyer is another dark purple filled in box with yellow dots along the border that has " for more information: email phildept@uark.edu or drop by our office in main 318"

 

Fall 2024 Guest Speakers

Cream poster with black text stating: "The Department of Philosophy Presents. Kyla Ebels-Duggan. Northwestern University." Inside an olive box is the title "The Extremely Difficult Realization That Something Other Than One's Self Is Real" in the middle of the poster is an olive line with "All Students Welcome!" underneath. Inside a Olive outline it says "Giffels Auditorium (MAIN 201) Friday, Sept. 13th, 2024 3:00 - 5:00pm". At the bottom of the poster is an olive tag with black text that says "For more information contact phildept@uark.edu or drop by MAIN318"            A light blue background with navy accents that says "The Department of Philosophy Presents, A Lynne and James Spellman Lecture in the History of Philosophy, Professor Barbara Herman From UCLA "Why Kant's Kingdom of Ends Needs a Doctrine of Means" Underneath in a Navy outlined box reads "GRAD 163 (Grad Auditorium) Friday, November 8th, 2024 3:00 - 5:00 pm" Inside the Navy accents is a abstract about the talk. At the bottom of the poster it reads "for more information contact phildept@uark.edu or drop by MAIN 318."

 

Spring 2024 Guest Speakers

A blue and red poster that says "The Philosophy Department Presents." "Why Political Polarization Will Get Worse If People Are Reasonable." "Friday, April 5th, 2024. 3:30 - 5:30pm." "Giffels Auditorium. MAIN 201" In the middle of the page is an abstract about the talk." "Dr. Thomas Kelly. Princeton University." At the very bottom of the page it says "Learn more: email phildept@uark.edu or visit us: MAIN 318."

 

Spring 2023 Guest Speakers

wedgwood
CraverFlyer
Clardy

 

Spring 2023 Graduate Student Conference

Grad Conference
 
 

 

Fall 2023 Guest Speakers

Bob Fischer talk
Della Rocca Talk
ManonGarcia

 

Summer 2022

Congratulations to Drs. Eric Funkhouser and Barry Ward

As of July 1st, 2022, Dr. Edward Minar resigned from the department chair position that he held for 8 years. The Philosophy Department thanks him for his service and for an easy transition into a new chapter here at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Eric Funkhouser has taken his place as department chair and Dr. Barry Ward has taken the Director of Graduate Studies role. We are excited to see what their vision is for our department!

Well Done Tori Cotton

One of our Master's students, Tori Cotton, attended an international philosophy conference in Europe this summer. The conference, hosted by the Philosophy Department at Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania and was sponsored by the European Social Fund. The conference was called Beyond Free Will: Variety in Understanding of Choice, Luck, and Necessity and Ms. Cotton's paper title was "Aristotle's Luck: Is the Consistently Lucky Man Happy?" We are very proud of Tori and her progress as a student.

Fall 2022

Welcome Aboard Dr. Ashley Purdy

The Philosophy Department is happy to announce an incoming Visiting Assistant Professor Dr. Ashley Purdy from the University of Pittsburgh. She works primarily in normative ethics, with her research activity exploring the compatibility of some prominent normative ethical theories and other values such as friendship and the role of loyalty in friendship. Other areas of her research include philosophy of action, Kantian practical phlosophy, animal ethics, and bioethics. Dr. Purdy has taught introductory courses in early modern philosophy, ethics, and is interested in teaching political philosophy, bioethics, Kantian practical philosophy, and philosophy of action. Good luck and welcome to Fayetteville Dr. Purdy!

Fall 2022 Conference

Digital Minds