Department News

The Bruno Leoni Institute featured Barry Smith talking with his avatar. His digital alter ego asks questions and he answers them. The physical resemblance to Smith is impressive, but the way the avatar speaks is a little less so. It was one of the most awaited moments of the meeting organized at the Ogr in Turin by the Crt foundation and the Bruno Leoni institute.

The journal Cosmos+Taxis, 12 (5+6), has published a symposium on Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith, Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence without Fear. The issue includes papers and reviews by more than eighteen authors.

The John Templeton Foundation has awarded a $2.5 million research grant to support the work of faculty in UB’s Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) program. The innovative research project will demonstrate how diversity, disagreement and dynamism are crucial resources for fueling an open society, not problems to be managed. Professor Ryan Muldoon, who directs the PPE program, is the grant’s principal investigator. Co-principal investigators include fellow UB faculty members Justin Bruner, associate professor of philosophy; David Emmanuel Gray, associate teaching professor of philosophy; Jacob Neiheisel, associate professor of political science; Alexandra Oprea, assistant professor of philosophy; Alexander Schaefer, assistant professor of philosophy; and Erik Kimbrough, Chapman University professor of political economy and philosophy.

Alexandra Oprea and Daniel Stephens have co-authored a thought-provoking paper that was recently published in the journal Politics, Philosophy & Economics. According to the co-authors, the first duty of a democratic citizen is voting in ways that keep their democracy a democracy. Read the research news article by Bert Gambini.

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has recognized UB's Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) program as a ‘Hidden Gem’ that enhances students’ analytical skills. The program creates prepared leaders eager to shape and improve the relationship between markets and the liberal sociopolitical order. Read the news story by Bert Gambini.

Congratulations to John Beverley, winner a $3.8 million grant from the National Institute on Aging. Beverley's project is focused on philosophically-informed ontology development related to the psychological study of aging.  Read the news story by Bert Gambini.