Department of Philosophy

Richard Thompson Hull (1939 - 2021)

4/4/21

The University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy regrets to announce the passing of Richard Thompson Hull, Professor Emeritus, on March 15, 2021. Learn more.

Philosophy, Politics and Economics Undergraduate Minor

8/21/20

UB this fall will begin offering its undergraduate students a new multidisciplinary minor in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). Concentrating aspects of these three complementary domains into a transformative and far-reaching course of study was an idea that took root at Oxford University in 1920. Since then, PPE has continued to grow steadily across Europe and the United States. Learn more about the program.

Read news report by Bert Gambinii.

Jobs for Philosophers (Buffalo Edition)

1/13/21

A significant number of our graduates obtain well-paying jobs in biomedical research, government, banking, social media, and similar areas. The key to this success lies in the role played in our program by the discipline of ontology, a branch of philosophy that is making a significant contribution to information and data science. Learn more.

At the intersection of Philosophy and Information Science

7/30/20

Ontology is a foundational discipline of philosophy that has its origins in ancient Greece. Today, the demand for trained ontologists is becoming a distinct career path for our graduates. UB is a world center of research in applied ontology, opening the doors for our graduate students to successful careers in informatics and data science in fields such as biomedicine, finance, defense and security. Start a new career by earning an M.A. in Philosophy with a focus in ontology.

Oxford publishes The Powers Metaphysic by Neil Williams

7/30/20

Professor Neil Williams' new book is an engaging and unique case study in systematic metaphysics. He argues that we can solve a host of basic metaphysical problems by appealing to the nature of objects. See Oxford UP.

2/6/20 Faculty Profile

Diversity isn’t what divides us. Division is what divides us.

1/8/21

Ryan Muldoon's new paper was commissioned by The Knight Foundation for its series on media and democracy. The work is about how thinking about faction can help guide practical solutions to combat misinformation. Read the paper.

1/15/20 Learn more.

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WHY STUDY PHILOSOPHY: Individuals with Bachelors degrees in philosophy have higher life-time earnings than other humanities students

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2021 EVENTS

Department Colloquia

Our colloquia take place online (via Zoom) Wednesdays, 4:00 to 6:00pm. Learn more.

April 14, David Braun
(University at Buffalo)
“Questions and Answers”

Abstract: Propositions are the semantic contents of declarative sentences, such as ‘Alice sings’ and ‘Some people sing’. They are also the things that agents believe and assert. Questions are the semantic contents of interrogative sentences, such as ‘Does Alice sing?’ and ‘Who sings?’. They are also the things that agents ask and wonder about. In the mid-twentieth century, most philosophers who thought about questions argued that they were just propositions “in disguise”. Today, however, there is an alternative view of questions that is so widely accepted that it deserves to be called the received view. The received view denies that questions are propositions. But it says that two questions are identical if and only if exactly the same propositions can fully answer them. On strong versions of the received view, each question is identical with the set of propositions that can completely answer it. In this talk, I criticize the received view, and present an alternative theory of questions and interrogative sentences. On the theory I favor, questions are not propositions, and a theory of questions need not, and should not, include a theory of answers.

4/5/21 ALSO SEE CO-SPONSORED EVENT APRIL 28: "Recording Injustices Genetically? The Case of the Human Microbiome”

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Keylight

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What Should Be the Overarching Natural End (Goal) of Human Life?
4/2/21
April 23, 2021, Friday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, join us online as Patrick Lee delivers the talk, "What Should Be the Overarching Natural End (Goal) of Human Life?". The event is part of the Spring 2021 Speaker Series hosted by the Romanell Center. For further information contact Jonathan Vajda, jvajda@buffalo.edu
NCOR-Brazil 2021
2/19/21
The National Center for Ontological Research (NCOR) now has a sister organization in Brazil. The non-profit association, NCOR-BR, consists of a dynamic network of researchers, professionals and students committed to playing an active role in discussions on Applied Ontology, disseminating knowledge and good practices to support high quality ontological artifacts. The Brazilian chapter of NCOR was born from more than a decade of discussions within a group of researchers in Information Science.
Bridges: In Honor of Kah Kyung Cho
1/11/21
On the occasion of commemorating service to a Department and a University which ran for almost fifty years, that had its start at a time of the anti-war movement and the student protests of the late 1960s, and ended at the time of digital globalization and economic precarity of the late 2010s, it is worth remembering Professor Kah Kyung Cho’s turbulent beginings. It may well be said that his early life was determined by such a series of rare events, and strokes of good fortune, which one encounters only in the fictional world of a novel. But, at the same time, Prof. Cho’s life tale was the offspring of a different era, an era that seems today a distant past, when hardship, insecurity, danger, and eventually chance, ruled. Read more.
Division, Not Diversity, Is What's Dividing Our Society
1/15/21
There’s a growing sense that the American experiment is faltering, and it’s tempting to blame diversity (the thing that amplifies our different needs, interests, and wants). But in a truly liberal society, that’s the easy (and incorrect) way out, says Ryan Muldoon in a conversation with Niskanen's Will Wilkinson. Access the discussion on YouTube.
The Infectious Disease Ontology in the Age of COVID-19
6/12/20
Research at the University at Buffalo’s National Center for Ontological Research (NCOR) is leveraging ontology to assist in the efforts to control the current outbreak, accelerate data discovery in future pandemics, and promote reproducible infectious disease research. Read the news story by Bert Gambini. Also see the related paper, The Coronavirus Infectious Disease Ontology (CIDO), a community-based ontology for coronavirus disease knowledge and data integration, sharing, and analysis, here.

Student and Alumni Spotlight

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Alumnus Profile: Patrick Ray, PhD, Ontologist
1/28/21
The Department of Philosophy is pleased to present an alumnus profile featuring Patrick Ray, PhD. He provides insight about his time at UB, and offers perpective on his personal life, academic path, and professional career as an ontologist for the Allen Institute for Brain Science.
Alumnus Profile: William S. Mandrick PhD, Ontologist
1/26/21
The Department of Philosophy is pleased to present an alumnus profile featuring William Mandrick, PhD. He graciously agreed to answer our inquiries about his experience with our faculty, and perpectives on his personal life, academic path, and professional career as an ontologist for the United States Army.
Brendan Cline named keynote speaker for 2021 Philosophy in the Wild
1/22/21
Philosophy in the Wild has named UB Alum Brendan Cline, PhD as a keynote speaker for the inaugural 2021 summer workshop. Cline earned his PhD in 2017. His dissertation, Valuing a Normatively Inert World, was supervised by Dr. James R. Beebe. While at UB, SpringLink published Cline's article, Against deliberative indispensability as an independent guide to what there is. Currently, Cline holds a tenure-track position as assistant professor of business ethics at California State University Channel Islands.
J.J. Sanford named 10th president of University of Dallas
1/16/21
The University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy congratulates our alumnus, Jonathan J. Sanford, PhD (Buffalo), on being named by the University of Dallas Board of Trustees as the insitution's 10th president effective July 1, 2021. Sanford's areas of expertise include Ethics, Higher Education, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Metaphysics, Virtue Theory, Social and Political Philosophy, and Early Phenomenology. Learn more.

Faculty Research

Sample Areas of Research

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NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

NCOR-Brazil 2021
2/19/21
J.J. Sanford named 10th president of University of Dallas
1/16/21
The University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy congratulates our alumnus, Jonathan J. Sanford, PhD (Buffalo), on being named by the University of Dallas Board of Trustees as the insitution's 10th president effective July 1, 2021. Sanford's areas of expertise include Ethics, Higher Education, Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Metaphysics, Virtue Theory, Social and Political Philosophy, and Early Phenomenology. Learn more.
Bridges: In Honor of Kah Kyung Cho
1/11/21
On the occasion of commemorating service to a Department and a University which ran for almost fifty years, that had its start at a time of the anti-war movement and the student protests of the late 1960s, and ended at the time of digital globalization and economic precarity of the late 2010s, it is worth remembering Professor Kah Kyung Cho’s turbulent beginings. It may well be said that his early life was determined by such a series of rare events, and strokes of good fortune, which one encounters only in the fictional world of a novel. But, at the same time, Prof. Cho’s life tale was the offspring of a different era, an era that seems today a distant past, when hardship, insecurity, danger, and eventually chance, ruled. Read more.
Division, Not Diversity, Is What's Dividing Our Society
9/15/20
Muldoon directs new program in Philosophy, Politics, and Economy
8/21/20
Philosophy, Politics and Economics begins with a wide-angle view of the inherent tools found in these three disciplines. It considers their strengths and blind spots, and then pulls the various instruments together to create a robust mechanism that can creatively inform, explain and evaluate those systems and forces influencing organizations and societies. UB’s three-dimensional PPE design also includes an early course in model-based reasoning, which has been developed specifically for the program. “The idea is to help students think about the world using models that allow them to consider complicated problems, Ryan Muldoon, associate professor, Department of Philosophy.
Oxford University Press names Ryan Muldoon editor of new book series
7/29/20
Oxford University Press (OUP) has announced that Dr. Ryan Muldoon is co-editor of its new book series, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Dr. Muldoon, Associate Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Program, University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy, is an expert in social political philosophy. As one of five co-editors of the book series, Muldoon enjoys the support and advice of OUP's Editorial Advisory Board.
Cuba Before Castro: A Century of Family Memoirs by Jorge J. E. Gracia
7/14/20
Although much has been written about Cuba after Castro, relatively little has been written about Cuba before Castro. The political reality of Castro’s Revolution has created a historical void about this period, paying insufficient attention to an important century before 1959. Cuba has become a political punching bag, between supporters and critics of Castro and the Revolution, making it difficult to understand real life in Cuba because of the disproportionate preoccupation with, and monopoly of, the political reality on the island. In spite of some attempts, it continues to be easier and perceived as more pressing, to write about politics rather than the reality that Cubans experienced in their daily lives— their sufferings and celebrations, successes and failures, lives and deaths, and beliefs and disbeliefs. Going for and against the avalanche of information about the political authenticity in and out of Cuba, most Cubans have tended to forget that Cuba is much larger than the perceived reality after Castro’s Revolution. Too many have failed to remember the Cubans who have lived and worked in Cuba in the century before an important period of Cuban history where the nation was forged. Indeed, even limited attention reveals a rich and sophisticated society that calls for study.
The Infectious Disease Ontology in the Age of COVID-19
6/12/20
Research at the University at Buffalo’s National Center for Ontological Research (NCOR) is leveraging ontology to assist in the efforts to control the current outbreak, accelerate data discovery in future pandemics, and promote reproducible infectious disease research. Read the news story by Bert Gambini. Also see the related paper, The Coronavirus Infectious Disease Ontology (CIDO), a community-based ontology for coronavirus disease knowledge and data integration, sharing, and analysis, here.
Beebe wins $234,000 grant from John Templeton Foundation
5/18/20
The University at Buffalo Department of Philosophy is pleased to announce that James R. Beebe, Professor of Philosophy, has been awarded a $234,000 research grant from the John Templeton Foundation to study the philosophy and psychology of intellectual autonomy. The three-year project aims to deepen understanding of how to balance a healthy reliance upon our own reasoning and decision making with a robust awareness of the fallibility of our cognitive capacities. On the one hand, overestimating our intellectual abilities and achievements can lead us to dismiss the testimony of peers and experts when they disagree with us, closing us off to potentially valuable information. On the other hand, focusing too much on our intellectual limitations and weaknesses can result in insufficient self-trust and an excessive deference toward the opinions and reasoning of others. Knowing how to balance intellectual self-reliance with intellectual humility can be especially difficult when navigating contentious public debates that are marked by increasing polarization and massive amounts of misinformation that are disguised as fact.
Philosophy Course Poster Design Contest
3/31/20
The Department of Philosophy is pleased to announce a graphic design contest for UB undergraduate students to create an original poster to advertise one of our selected courses. The top prize is a UB 2021-22 tuition waiver valued at $5,000. The contest is open to all UB Undergraduate students currently enrolled in any program. All undergraduate students at UB are invited to enter the poster design contest.
Research News features Barry Smith and the Industrial Ontologies Foundry (IOF)
1/4/21
Barry Smith and the Industrial Ontologies Foundry (IOF) are hosting a global community of scholars, researchers and industry professionals working to create a logically organized set of definitions — known as an ontology — that would allow computer programs to communicate across different operating systems and software programs. The IOF's Third Expert Meeting, March 5, 2020, is featured by UB Research News.
The Powers Metaphysic
9/14/19
Systematic metaphysics is defined by its task of solving metaphysical problems through the repeated application of single, fundamental ontology. The dominant contemporary metaphysic is that of neo-Humeanism, built on a static ontology typified by its rejection of basic causal and modal features. This book offers a radically distinct metaphysic, one that turns the status quo on its head. Starting with a foundational ontology of inherently causal properties known as 'powers', Neil E. Williams develops a metaphysic that appeals to powers in explanations of causation, persistence, laws, and modality.
Muldoon: Its segregation, not diversity, that divides us.
1/15/20
Professor Ryan Muldoon, an expert in social political philosophy, recently worked with the Knight Foundation on its Trust, Media and Democracy initiative. The foundation promotes excellence in journalism and the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Muldoon is part of the foundation’s panel of specialists in various fields committed to creating more informed and engaged communities. UB News featured the following article during the first week of the Fall 2018 semester.
McMahon wins 2019 Critical Language Scholarship
1/16/21
Graduate Student Publication: David. G. Limbaugh
3/17/16
It has been a good week for David Limbaugh. He had a paper accepted by Ethics, Medicine and Public Health and then won the Evangelical Philosophical Society's prize for the Best Graduate Student Paper at their Mid West regional conference.
Graduate Student Publication: Robert Kelly
3/17/16
Robert Kelly's paper "Remembering past lives" is one of the chapters in a volume entitled Advances in Religion, Cognitive Science, and Experimental Philosophy. Bob's co-authors are Claire White and Shaun Nichols.
Festschrift honors the work of Barry Smith
5/27/16
A festschrift honoring the work of Barry Smith is being published by Palgrave-McMillan. The collection of essays, entitled the The Theory and Practice of Ontology, provides close examination of ontology and the work of Professor Smith, one of the most prolific philosophers of the modern day.
Barry Smith wins 2016 IAOA Ontology Competition
8/18/16
Together with Niels Grewe and Ludger Jansen from the University of Rostock, Barry Smith has won the 2016 Ontology Competition organized by the International Association for Ontology and Its Applications (IAOA). In all, nine teams were competing for the prize, from which three finalists were invited to present their contributions at the international conference on Formal Ontology in Information Systems (FOIS) held in Annecy, France.
Muldoon co-authors World Bank's World Development Report: Mind, Society and Behavior
7/26/19
Typically, philosophers don’t have a role in policy making, but this is a great opportunity to do something that is policy relevant and to be actively involved with making people’s lives better.
Graduate Careers: William Duncan
1/13/17
One of our most successful recent PhD graduates is William Duncan, who has been appointed Associate Director of the Clinical Data Network at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the first dedicated medical facility for cancer treatment and research in the United States. Dr. Duncan also serves as Assistant Professor of Oncology.
Smith leads CHAMP team: UB receives major grant to support ontology-based research in digital manufacturing
8/23/17
Nomikos wins UB Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Award
3/22/17
The Department of Philosophy is pelased to announce Ariane Nomikos has been selected as an award winner through 2017's Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching Awards competition. The university community will honor Nomikos and her fellow award recipients at UB's 13th Annual Celebration of Student Academic Excellence ceremony on Thursday, April 20, and at the Excellence in Teaching awards luncheon on Friday, April 21.