Boston Colloquium for Philosophy of Science

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Non-Ideal Philosophy of Language Workshop
Presented by the Boston University Department of Philosophy
Sponsored by the Center for Philosophy & History of Science, the Boston University Department of Philosophy, the Center for the Humanities, and Rutgers University

Workshop Topic
Non-ideal philosophy of language encompasses both methodological commitments and subject matter. There is something particular about philosophizing about language that is different from some other areas of philosophy. There is a limit to how much we, as speakers, can abstract or idealize, since our target of inquiry — language — is by nature applied. It is, for the most part, the language we use in everyday speech that many philosophers of language address. Given this, one possible referent of ‘non-ideal philosophy of language’ is some kind of non-standard or non-traditional approach to philosophy of language, at least as it deviates from the historical canonical approaches to analytic philosophy of language.

A second interpretation, following Charles Mills’ groundbreaking work on non-ideal philosophy in ethical theory, is that the scope of non-ideal philosophy of language includes inquiry and theorizing that is “able to address many, if not all, of the concerns not only of women, but also of those, men as well as women, subordinated by class and race, and the underdevelopment of the “South” — and reflecting the distinctive experience of the oppressed while avoiding particularism and relativism” (2005 p. 166). We can imagine five features of non-ideal philosophy of language: that it (a) eschews idealizations and abstractions in favor of attending to the realities of how people use and experience language; (b) sometimes or often deals with subject matter that is social, political, or liberatory in nature; (c) does so with methodological considerations and commitments that are anti-oppressive; (d) embraces some kind of methodological pluralism about how to theorize about such language; and (e) involves some (explicit or implicit) commitment to reflect on our own role as theorizers.

So, non-ideal theory can be about a way or an approach to philosophy — a methodology or a theoretical commitment. Less familiarly, non-ideal theory can be about certain kinds of subject matter: those that aren’t idealized (see Mühlebach 2022), or those that concern experiences of oppression (Mills 2005). In this workshop, eight invited speakers will present original unpublished work in progress on topics related to non-ideal philosophy of language – including cognitive science, psychology, and linguistics – and its relation to politics, race, gender, oppression, and resistance.

Schedule
Thursday, October 3
All events to take place at the School of Theology, Room 325
745 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215

1:30-2:00 p.m.
Welcome and Opening Remarks

2:00-3:15 p.m.
“Sexual Orientation: What is it? What do we want it to be?” Kevin Richardson (Duke University)

3:30-4:45 p.m.
“(Speech) Acts, Uptake, and Agency,” Deborah Mühlebach (Freie Universität Berlin)

5:00-6:15 p.m.
“Non-Ideal Philosophy of Language and the Space of Pro Tanto Reasons,” Eric Swanson (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)

Friday, October 4

10:00-11:15 a.m.
“Creative Intentions in Ordinary Language,” Ethan Nowak (Stanford University)

11:30-12:45 p.m.
“Speaker Identity and Verbal Microaggressions,” DeeAnn Spicer (Howard University)

12:45-2 p.m. Lunch break

2:00-3:15 p.m.
“Narrativizing Conflict,” Rachel McKinney (Suffolk University)

3:30-4:45 p.m.
“Theories of Reclamation,” Luvell Anderson (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

5:00-6:15 p.m.
“Nicknames as Tools for Navigating Social Space,” Elisabeth Camp (Rutgers University)

Saturday, October 5

9:00-10:15 a.m.
“Language of Care,” Samia Hesni (Boston University)

10:30-11:45 p.m.
“Conversing in the Dark: Off-Record Speech Acts and the Cooperative Creation of Uncertainty,” Sam Berstler (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

11:45-1:00 p.m.
Wrap-Up and Next Steps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Human Minds and Animal Welfare
Presented by the Mind and Morality Lab and The Center for Philosophy & History of Science
Sponsored by the Center for Philosophy & History of Science, the Center for the Humanities, the College of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office, and the Department of Philosophy

Workshop Topic
The conference will bring together ethicists, psychologists, and philosophers of psychology. It will explore empirical research in social science about attitudes and behavior toward animals, and how this research bears on questions in moral and political philosophy surrounding the consumption of animal products.