Aporia, the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy, held its first undergraduate philosophy conference this weekend. Despite its relatively recent relaunch in 2006, Aporia attracted dozens of student presenters from around the country to discuss their work.
The aim of the conference was to provide undergraduates with a chance to share their studies of philosophy with fellow students, Jenny Strakovsky '09, an editor of Aporia, said. Organizers of the event were surprised at the level of interest the conference generated -- submissions to the conference arrived from as far away as Edinburgh, Scotland, Tatyana Liskovich '08, editor-in-chief of the journal, said.
"We've already been called a very prestigious conference," Liskovich said. "[The University of Northern Iowa] got a professor quoted as saying that. It's been incredible."
The conference attracted such notable thinkers as Harry Frankfurt, professor emeritus of philosophy at Princeton University, who was the keynote speaker for the conference. Frankfurt, who has authored several books in his career, has appeared twice on "The Daily Show" to discuss his most recent book, "On Truth" and his bestselling book "On Bullshit."
Frankfurt's lecture, delivered to a crowd that filled Kreindler Auditorium above capacity, focused on the question of moral responsibility for the unintended consequences of one's actions. As an example, he considered two firefighters trying to rescue someone from a burning building.
In his hypothetical scenario, one rescuer is successful, while the other, in trying to rescue the trapped man, accidentally brings about the man's death. Frankfurt then questioned whether one firefighter was more morally culpable than the other, ultimately determining that when chance causes an unfortunate outcome, one must consider an individual's intent.
"Whenever something bad happens, we always want to blame someone," he said, but added that, although such a man may not be morally worthy of blame, "we shouldn't let him off the hook too easily, either."
The conference also included a lecture by Stephen Carter, professor at Yale Law School, on the subject of "Just War Theory." The speech, which analyzed the development of international law as it pertains to justifications for war, sparked discussion on the role of the United States military in the modern world and the nature of U.S. policy on Vietnam, Darfur and Iraq.
"What is [the U.S. military] for?" Carter asked the audience. "Are there things you think America should be doing? That's a challenge... War is not easy, it's not fun and it's not without costs."
Although other schools sponsor conferences that showcase undergraduate work in philosophy, the Aporia conference was unique for being entirely student-run, Liskovich said. While the conference had a faculty advisor, Dartmouth professor Adina Roskies, the organization of the conference and the choice of presenters was handled entirely by students involved with Aporia.
"I actually don't know of any that are student run," Liskovich said. "This idea was very student-driven, student-shaped, and we don't see that in other [philosophy] departments."
The conference received praise from several of the undergraduates who presented papers, including Grant Rozenboom, a senior from the University of Northern Iowa. Rozenboom's paper, "Freedom Beyond Restraint: An Arendtian Critique of the Liberal Tradition," was named the best of the conference by the Aporia staff.
"I was very impressed with the level of scholarship," Rozenboom said, adding that the Aporia conference is one of only a few forums he has found for undergraduates to present their work. "I hadn't seen a lot of opportunities. It sounded like a great opportunity to get some presentation experience."
Along with the abundance of submissions from other institutions were six papers by Dartmouth students.
"It was nice to get a more well-rounded view of philosophy," Elena Falloon '11, one of Dartmouth's student presenters, said. "It's been enlightening; I've changed my perspective several times." Falloon presented a paper titled "Are Deliberative Democrats Naive about Power?"
Given the high level of interest in this year's conference, the Aporia staff hopes the event will remain popular enough to become an important annual event, according to Strakovsky.
"We're hoping to bring philosophy to the campus and let people know that philosophy is not just this abstract field that nobody knows anything about," Strakovsky said. "It's really just a way to open a forum up to students to talk about the different issues that they're interested in."