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SPA Student Speaker Series: Daniel Luna, Peden Sager, Cody Spjut
April 21, 2023 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The Student Philosophy Association is hosting a SP23 Student Speaker Series. The event will take place in the Student Success Center room 030 (directly below BMAC) at 2:00pm on Friday April 21st.
Note that the SPA will host a dinner following the event. If you want to attend, please RSVP to El Nicklin <eleanor.nicklin@student.csulb.edu> at your earliest convenience so that plans can be made.
Program:
2:00pm–2:40pm: Graduate Student Research Presentation + Q&A
Daniel Luna (Cal State Long Beach)
‘Descartes’s beast-machine doctrine: the argument from real speech‘
‘Descartes’s beast-machine doctrine: the argument from real speech‘
- Abstract: Descartes infamously held the so-called ‘beast-machine’ doctrine, which holds that nonhuman animals lack thought in the broadest sense—not only the acts of the pure intellect but also any conscious states or acts, such as volition, emotion, imagination, memory, sensation, and even bare feeling. Descartes’s main argument for this doctrine is often characterized as being patently flawed or enthymematic. His reasoning relied on the premise that animals fail to display ‘real speech’, which is defined as a sort of speech that machines are incapable of imitating. As I show, Descartes’s argument from real speech is best interpreted as an inference to the best explanation. Aside from textual evidence, I plan to support my reconstruction by showing how it resolves several purported inconsistencies and interpretative puzzles commonly attributed to his argument.
- Areas: Early Modern History of Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
2:40pm–3:20pm: Graduate Student Research Presentation + Q&A
Peden Sager (Cal State Long Beach)
‘An expansion of instrumental value in environmental ethics‘
‘An expansion of instrumental value in environmental ethics‘
- Abstract: In the realm of environmental ethics, many philosophers have argued some version of this conclusion: the land has intrinsic value. While there are many good reasons to argue for this position, it is nonetheless a difficult, uncertain, and problematic one—especially when it comes to motivating people to protect the land. In this presentation, I will argue that focusing on the land’s instrumental value to humans can do most of the work we need it to do, provided we consider its instrumentality in light of a broad view of what is good for humans (e.g., that the land is important to humans because it sustains human life).
- Areas: Environmental Ethics, Axiology
3:20pm–4:00pm: Graduate Student Research Presentation + Q&A
Cody Spjut (Cal State Long Beach)
‘Oliva Sabuco: the relationship between virtue, emotions, and health‘
‘Oliva Sabuco: the relationship between virtue, emotions, and health‘
- Abstract: Oliva Sabuco de Nantes Barrera was a Spanish philosopher born in 1562. Her views on the mind-body relationship, human nature, and moral philosophy largely derived from the works of Plato and Aristotle. She believed in a tripartite soul, mind-body dualism, free will, and provided empirical evidence to support her views. The goal of her philosophy was also similar to the Ancient Greeks who inspired her, aiming to resolve the question: ‘how do we attain the good life?’ Her answer was for us to live virtuously while developing an understanding of human nature. In particular, we must examine how emotions affect our bodily health and vice-versa in order to improve our own lives and our communities. My aim is to examine the similarities and differences between Sabuco and her Greek influences. In doing so, Sabuco stands out in the history of philosophy as defending the core values of ancient Greek philosophers, while also improving upon them in her analysis of human emotions and their importance.
- Areas: Moral Psychology, Early Modern History of Philosophy