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DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20260508T150000
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CREATED:20260505T190756Z
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UID:34612-1778252400-1778259600@philosophy.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:Vasubandhu on Intentional Action: From Mind-Body to Mind-Only (Allison Aitken\, Columbia)
DESCRIPTION:The Global Philosophy Research Interest Group is pleased to welcome as its guest speaker Allison Aitken\, a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University. Dr. Aitken’s research centers on non-standard theories of relations and dependence structures in the history of metaphysics\, with a particular focus on Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist philosophical traditions. She also has interests in Classical Indian Philosophy more broadly as well as Early Modern European Philosophy. She is currently completing a book manuscript (under contract with Oxford University Press) on the Madhyamaka Buddhist ontological dependence structure understood as a kind of metaphysical indefinitism. \nTalk Title\n“Vasubandhu on Intentional Action: From Mind-Body to Mind-Only” \nTalk Abstract\n\nWhat\, metaphysically speaking\, qualifies an action as intentional? In this talk\, I examine Vasubandhu’s response to this question and show how his account of the nature and causal mechanics of intentional action exposes a tension between (i) a mereological nihilistic form of exdurantism and (ii) moral realism—namely\, the difficulty of reconciling anti-realism about spatiotemporal composites with realism about moral facts concerning intentional actions and their consequences. Vasubandhu’s solution is to eliminatively reduce intentional bodily action to mental action\, specifically the momentary mental act of intending a bodily movement. I identify some notable payoffs of this action theory\, including its straightforward handling of cases involving causal deviance and negative actions. Yet even if all morally significant action is\, strictly speaking\, mental action\, explanatory difficulties remain concerning mental causation when it comes to the question of how precisely the mind causes the body to move and precipitate change in the world. I show how Vasubandhu ultimately leverages this puzzle to argue for metaphysical idealism. Eliminating matter sidesteps worries about mind→body causal interaction\, but raises new questions about mind→mind interaction: how do our intentional actions affect other minds in the absence of a shared material world? I conclude with an analysis of Vasubandhu’s account of this process\, which commits him to a surprisingly opaque picture of the mind for an idealist\, characterized by qualified symmetrical access to mental states together with a form of externalism about mental content. \n  \n\nOne of six departmental Research Interest Groups\, the Global Philosophy Research Interest Group explores the benefits of drawing on diverse traditions of thought in approaching philosophical questions.
URL:https://philosophy.utoronto.ca/event/vasubandhu-on-intentional-action-from-mind-body-to-mind-only-allison-aitken-columbia/
LOCATION:Jackman Humanities Building\, Room 418\, 170 St. George Street\, Toronto\, Ontario\, M5R 2M8\, Canada
CATEGORIES:St. George,UTM,UTSC
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://philosophy.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/Allison-Aitken-headshot.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260525
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260528
DTSTAMP:20260506T184207
CREATED:20260420T204351Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260420T204549Z
UID:34557-1779667200-1779926399@philosophy.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:11th Annual Conference of the Society for the Metaphysics of Science
DESCRIPTION:The Society for the Metaphysics of Science (SMS) will be hosting its 11th Annual Conference\, in person at University of Toronto\, 25th-27th May\, 2026. \nThe Keynote speaker will be Heather Demarest (University of Colorado\, Boulder). In addition\, Giuliano Torrengo (University of Milan) will deliver the Presidential Address.
URL:https://philosophy.utoronto.ca/event/11th-annual-conference-of-the-society-for-the-metaphysics-of-science/
LOCATION:Bahen Centre for Information Technology\, 40 St George St\, Toronto\, Ontario\, M5S 2E4
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260527
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260530
DTSTAMP:20260506T184207
CREATED:20260427T195408Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260506T125955Z
UID:34583-1779840000-1780099199@philosophy.utoronto.ca
SUMMARY:How is Metaphysics Possible? A Critique of Analytic Reason
DESCRIPTION:On May 27–28\, the Kant & Post-Kantian Philosophy Research Group (KPK) will host a 2-day workshop on (parts of) Nick Stang’s in-progress book manuscript\, How is Metaphysics Possible? A Critique of Analytic Reason. The invited discussants will be: Jessica Leech (KCL)\, Damian Melamedoff-Vosters (NYU-Shanghai)\, Kris McDaniel (Notre Dame)\, and Aaron Segal (Hebrew University). On May 29\, the day following the workshop\, we will have a day of talks by the guest speakers.  A copy of the book chapter drafts to be discussed May 27–28 will be available no later than May 8; please email nick.stang@utoronto.ca for them on that date\, or later. \n  \nSchedule of events \nMay 27 \n10 am — noon: Ch. 1\, “The Semantic Possibility of Metaphysics” \nLunch break \n2 pm — 4pm: Ch. 2\, “The Epistemic Possibility of Metaphysics” \n4:30–6:30: Ch. 3\, “Carnap’s Critique of Pure Reason” \n  \nMay 28 \n10 am — noon: Ch. 4\, “Deflating Metaphysics” \nLunch break \n2 pm — 4pm: Ch. 10\, “How to Think about Things in Themselves” \n4:30 pm — 6:30 pm : Ch. 12\, “How is Transcendental Philosophy Possible?” \nMay 29 \n10:00 am — 11:30  am: Aaron Segal\, “Kierkegaard’s Arguments Against Objective Reasoning in Metaphysics” \nLunch break \n1pm — 2:30 pm: Damian Melamedoff-Vosters\, “Being-for-∃” \n2:45pm — 4:15 pm: Kris McDaniel\, “Theories of Degrees of Being” \n4:30 pm — 6 pm: Jessica Leech\, “Generality and Existential Import in all its Subtlety” \n  \nAll events will be held in JHB 100.
URL:https://philosophy.utoronto.ca/event/how-is-metaphysics-possible-a-critique-of-analytic-reason/
LOCATION:Jackman Humanities Building 100
CATEGORIES:Graduate,St. George,UTM,UTSC
ORGANIZER;CN="Nick Stang":MAILTO:nick.stang@utoronto.ca
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