Chris Zarpentine, Florida State University Moral rationalism has proved seductive for a number of contemporary ethicists.  The claim that moral requirements are rational requirements offers a firm and ‘ontologically cheap’ foundation for moral objectivity. In The Moral Problem, Michael Smith does a fine job of sorting through and distinguishing a number of claims that the […]

Winner of the Gerritt and Edith Schipper Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Paper at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Florida Philosophical Association Mindi Torrey, University of South Florida Authenticity is commonly identified as a uniquely existential matter and generally as an existential virtue. Both designations, that of being uniquely existential and that of being […]

Ryan Showler, Yavapai College In her recent book, Katrin Flikschuh’s primary goal is to untangle Kant’s political philosophy from Rawls. Post-Rawlsian interpretations of Kant have been plagued, she claims, by an aversion to Kantian metaphysics, and the result has been readings of Kant’s political philosophy divorced from the rest of the Kantian system. Flikschuh notes […]

John Valentine, Savannah College of Art and Design “Let’s go.”—“We can’t.”—“Why not?”—“We’re waiting for Godot.”—“Ah.” With this infamous refrain, Samuel Beckett introduces the strange world of Waiting for Godot. The two tramps, Vladimir and Estragon, have nothing significant to do with their lives other than waiting for the inscrutable Godot, or any significant place to […]

Presidential Address of the 56th Annual Meeting of the Florida Philosophical Association, 2010 Gene Witmer, University of Florida I The occasion of a Presidential Address seems to call for talk on grand themes: perhaps the nature of philosophy, or its value, or the significance of devoting one’s career to it, or the like. It might […]

Winner of the Outstanding Graduate Paper Award at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Florida Philosophical Association Phillip Scuderi, University of South Florida Introduction The purpose of this paper is to stress a small but significant point that arises in the context of Kant’s aesthetics. It is the sort of point about which there ought […]

Winner of the Gerritt and Edith Schipper Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Paper at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Florida Philosophical Association Aaron Kenna, University of North Florida Introduction In Bayesian confirmation theory, the standard account under which a statement is evidence for an hypothesis is positive relevance. That is, E is evidence for […]

N.E. Alphonse, University of Miami Introduction A distinguishing mark of naturalistic theories in metaphysics is that the scope of our ontological investigations should be delimited by the natural sciences. Accordingly, where matters ontological are concerned, naturalism centers on the claim that any answer to the question “what exists?” must be framed in concordance with our […]

Christine Wieseler, University of South Florida Introduction Embodiment is rarely conceived of as central for teaching and learning in philosophy classes. What would happen if we made embodied habits – such as perceptual practices regarding disability – an explicit concern in the classroom? How could philosophical frameworks on perceptual practices inform classroom activities to prompt students […]

Presidential Address of the 59th Annual Meeting of the Florida Philosophical Association, 2013 Scott Kimbrough, Jacksonville University Thank you. It is a privilege to address you all this evening, despite what I will go on to say. Thanks to Piers for putting together an excellent program. As your reward Piers, you have to stand up […]