The Neglected Philosophy of Science of William James (And His Celebrated But Misunderstood Defense of Faith) - Andrew Thomas Fyfe

Bio: Andrew Thomas Fyfe (A.T. Fyfe) is a recent Ph.D. graduate in Philosophy from the University of Maryland, specializing in ethics, metaethics, and philosophy of action. His research focuses on the idea that in order to value one’s own agency, one must also value the agency of all other free agents. In his dissertation project — "Constructing Our Moral World: Agency, Teleology, and Korsgaard" — he defended an Aristotelian-Anscombian theory of agency to provide the necessary theory of action for underpinning a Kantian ethical outlook. He has published works on William James and has forthcoming papers stemming from his dissertation on Kantian ethics and philosophy of action. Aside from teaching for many years at the University of Maryland, he has worked at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth teaching their middle-school philosophy course for gifted students ages 10-12. Currently, Professor Fyfe is visiting faculty at Boğaziçi University's philosophy department, teaching courses in ethics.

Abstract: William James argued that certain beliefs require a leap of faith before sufficient evidence becomes available—and his paradigm example of such beliefs is taken from science. Scientific knowledge often begins with a weakly supported and underdeveloped proposal, laden with contrary evidence and plagued by internal inconsistencies. Consequently, the proposal often garners limited interest. Initially, a novel scientific proposal only appeals to a small group of scientists who instinctually find something in the proposal that strikes them as profoundly right. Motivated by faith, they are convinced that once the hypothesis has been further developed, revised, and its full promise made good on over the course of years or decades of hard work, that their early belief will ultimately be vindicated. The present lecture contends that James' aims to justify religious faith on precisely the same grounds. James' defense of faith is an attempt to apply his views about belief ahead of sufficient evidence in scientific knowledge formation to defend a religious believer's faith.

Provincializing Husserl’s Europe - Kadir Filiz

Bio: Kadir Filiz completed his Ph.D at Radboud University, Nijmegen (2023). His dissertation (Event and Subjectivity: The Question of Phenomenology in Claude Romano and Jean-Luc Marion) published in 2024 (Brill), focuses on the phenomenology of the event. His fields of interest are phenomenology, hermeneutics, philosophy of religion, decolonization, Islamic philosophy and as well as the related topics between different philosophical traditions. He works on various aspects of Eurocentrism in phenomenology and in the conception of philosophy. He is a translator of philosophical books and articles from English, French and German into Turkish. He is also one of the editors of Sabah Ülkesi Magazine published in Germany in Turkish.

Abstract: This talk critically discusses Edmund Husserl’s conception of “Europe” and the limitation it poses on the methodology of phenomenology. Husserl’s invention of the idea of Europe from Ancient Greek heritage as an ideal and spirit leads him to privilege a particular kind of rationality in the name of universal-scientific phenomenology. For him, non-European “philosophies” are not philosophy in a genuine sense; rather he speaks of them as “practical” or “mythical”. The methodological basis for this claim and its Eurocentric supremacy is rooted in Husserl’s attribution of a fundamental role to epochē in the transcendental approach of phenomenology. I will address the implications of Husserl’s problematic concept of Europe as a part of his transcendental phenomenology. First, I will present how this idea of Europe is based on asserting superiority over others who remained outside of this spirit. Furthermore, I will argue how Husserl’s idea of Europe is linked to transcendentalism of phenomenology. This will bring us closer to discussing Husserl’s conceptualisation of epochē and reduction, and above all, what counts as “genuine philosophy” for Husserl. My inquiry will show that epochē and reduction ascribe an unachievable characterisation to phenomenology, and questioning them can be instrumental in contemplating a “provincialized” Europe in the phenomenological movement.

Ethics of Loneliness - Zohar Lederman

Bio: Zohar Lederman is an emergency medicine specialist and a bioethicist at the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Hong Kong. He researches loneliness, public health ethics, and just war theory.

Abstract: In this presentation, I will discuss the ethics of loneliness, namely what loneliness is and why we have an obligation to do something about it. I will also examine what ‘doing something about it’ means.