PROGRAM & SCHEDULE

9th Annual Moravian Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Saturday, April 7, 2018

Moravian University, Bethlehem, PA

All sessions will be held in the HUB

 

8:00-8:45am Registration | HUB Lobby

 

8:45am Welcome and Awards | UBC Room

Uppinder Mehan, Ph.D. Dean, School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Awards

  • Douglas Anderson Prize in Philosophy, awarded to Nick Gaspar and Colton Carlisle.
  • The Fredrick (Jiggs) McConnell Prize in Moral Philosophy, awarded to Hannah Matthews.

 

9:00-10:10am Plenary Talk | UBC Room

Plenary Speaker: Jeffrey Jordan, Ph. D. Is Pascal’s Wager a Safe Bet?

 

10:15-11:25am Metaphysics (Chair: Dr. Bill Falla) | UBC Room

  • “Peirce’s Prayer: Charles S. Peirce and Hesychasm.”  Zachary Sokol (Lehigh University).
  • “Fact-Constructivism from a Realist/Anti-Realist Backdrop.” Michael Bassil (Moravian University).
  • “The Eternal Sand-Glass of Existence.”  Julia Greig (Bryn Mawr).

 

11:30am -12:40pm Friendship, Romantic Love, and Asceticism (Chair: Dr. Leon Niemoczynski) | UBC Room

  • “Proper Reasons for Justifying Romantic Love.”  Ion Plamadeala (Lafayette College).
  • “A Friendship with Benefits.” James Brown-Kinsella (Princeton University).
  • “Aristotle’s View on Beauty Within Art: Romantic Flower Chair.” Sarah De Franco (Moravian University).

 

12:45-1:45pm Lunch

 

1:50-3:00pm Free will and Personal Identity (Chair: Harold Weiss) | Snyder Room

  • “Free Will and the PSR.” Alex Mendez (Macaulay Honors Program at Brooklyn College, CUNY).
  • “Free Will, Determinism and the Suicide of Robin Williams.” T. J. Dodenhoff  (Northampton Community College).
  • “David Hume and Buddhism on the Problem of Personal Identity.” Yuezhuo Ma (Muhlenberg College).

 

3:05-4:15pm Ethics (Chair: Dr. Tad Robinson) | Snyder Room

  • “A Utilitarian Defense of Animal Liberation.” Melanie Gutierrez, (Moravian University).
  • “Sexual Harassment, Autonomy, and Justice in the Service Industry.” September McCarthy (Muhlenberg College).
  • “The Morality of Animal Testing in the Medical Field.” Alicia Wallace (Moravian University).

 

4:20-5:30pm Social Justice  and Aesthetics ( Chair: Dr. Carol Moeller) | Snyder Room

  • “The Complement of Hobbes and Rawls.” Jaden Lee Watkins-Myers (Northampton Community College).
  • “Husserl and the Possibility of the Other.” Emily Rose Ogland (Bryn Mawr College).
  • “Kierkegaard's False Asceticism.” Cody Yarnell-Soren (Moravian University).

 

Program Coordinators: Cody Yarnall, 2020 and Ellyn Siftar, 2019