Philosophy News - UTM

Socrates Project Celebrates 20 Years

Published: September 16, 2026

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When Donald Ainslie was chair of the philosophy department more than twenty years ago, little did he imagine the success of the Socrates Project, where the department’s best undergraduates experience the Socratic approach of learning philosophy by teaching philosophy by serving as teaching assistants (TAs) for an introductory philosophy course. … Read More

Thirteen Faculty Members Awarded SSHRC Insight Grants

Published: August 27, 2026

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Congratulations to the recipients of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Insight Grant competition. Read about the 12 projects below. The department set a record for most successful applications in one year! The successful colleagues are Donald Ainslie, David Barnett, Mike Caie, Jessica Gelber, Reza Hadisi, … Read More

New UTM Philosophy Summer Camps Introduce Children to the Big Questions

Published: August 18, 2026

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Conventional wisdom suggests that philosophy isn’t for kids: it’s too abstract, too attention-demanding, and too serious. Not so, according to the minds behind UTM’s new philosophy summer camps. The Little Thinkers Camp and the Philosophy Explorers Camp introduce children aged 6-11 to the wonders of philosophical questions about knowledge, reality, … Read More

Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen Discusses Psychopathy on CBC Ideas

Published: August 12, 2026

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According to popular culture, psychopaths are dangerous, sometimes brilliant, but callous, incapable of empathy, and prone to antisocial behaviour and violent crimes. In the law, assessments of psychopathy are used to justify crucial judicial decisions. Rasmus Rosenberg Larsen, Associate Professor of Forensic Epistemology and Philosophy of Science at the University … Read More

Owen Ware: Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Prize Fellow

Published: July 15, 2026

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Congratulations to Owen Ware for receiving the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany. As a result, he is currently a fellow at the Center for Post-Kantian Philosophy at Potsdam University for the 2026 summer semester as well as for 2027. This summer he is working … Read More

2026 Faculty Promotions

Published: June 25, 2026

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We are delighted to announce five faculty promotions to the rank of professor in the department, all of which will take effect on July 1, 2026. Gwen Bradford (St George) studies value theory and normative ethics, and is particularly interested in ill-being—the opposite of well-being—and how perfectionism might account for … Read More

Recent PhDs – Spring 2026

Published: May 13, 2026

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The Philosophy Department congratulates the latest PhDs to defend their dissertations. David Rattray defended “Getting Purposes in Mind,” supervised by Denis Walsh in October 2025. Denis Walsh describes David Rattray’s work as a highly innovative dissertation that “draws out some of the implications of agent-centred evolutionary biology for traditional issues … Read More

In memoriam: Hans George Herzberger

Published: May 11, 2026

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It is with great sadness that the Department of Philosophy remembers our cherished colleague Professor Emeritus Hans George Herzberger, a philosopher and logician with a varied set of interests from Gottlob Frege’s inexpressible to the silence of Buddha. He passed away in the Rishi Valley, India, on January 30, 2026, … Read More