Department News

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.

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.

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 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. 

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.