Events
- Annual Convention
- Great Teaching Round-up
- Leading from the middle
- fall conference for faculty leaders
- The Texas Network
"I think there is something more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers, there aren't enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision."
Events: 2012 Philosophy Schedule
Philosophy Summary
Friday, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
“Is it Possible to TEACH Skepticism? Using Hume’s Epistemology in the Junior College Classroom”
Speaker: Madeleine Ross, Professor of Philosophy and History, Tyler Junior College
Friday, 2:30 - 3:45 p.m.
"Teaching Religious Studies with Students Who Embrace Wildly Varying Belief Systems: An Example Involving the Gospels and a Visual Metaphor"
Speaker: Kent Hoeffner, Instructor in Philosophy, McLennan Community College
Saturday, 10:30 - 11:45 a.m.
"The Platonic Notion of Abstract Objects and the Theistic Metaphysical Vision: A Question of Compatibility"
Speaker: Eddy F. Carder, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Prairie View A&M University
Friday, March 2nd, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
“Is it Possible to TEACH Skepticism? Using Hume’s Epistemology in the Junior College Classroom”
Speaker: Madeleine Ross, Professor of Philosophy and History, Tyler Junior College
Hume’s skepticism about the persistent self often appears easy for students to grasp, but persuading them to consider the implications is an uphill task. Most seem to “relax” into Kant with a sigh of relief.
More difficult yet is his empiricism. On one level Hume’s “Fork” is easy to explain. Even his skepticism about cause and effect is teachable. Difficulties arise when the importance of developing a convincing foundation for such skepticism is considered. Apparently, going beyond common sense is nearly impossible for many students to accept.
The project is still worth pursuing. Just getting students to produce examples for and against Hume’s ideas is valuable in itself—Or is it?
Biography:
Dr. Madeleine Ross graduated with a Ph.D. in History from the University of Edinburgh in 1974. She then worked part-time for the Open University and as a local politician both in Edinburgh and then on Lothian Regional Council until 1987. Upon remarriage, Ross came to East Texas, where she taught History and, later, Philosophy at Lon Morris College. Dr. Ross did her graduate work in philosophy at University of Texas at Tyler.
Dr. Madeleine Ross has been teaching philosophy and history at Tyler Junior College from August 2002 to the present.
Friday, March 2nd, 2:30 - 3:45 p.m.
"Teaching Religious Studies with Students Who Embrace Wildly Varying Belief Systems: An Example Involving the Gospels and a Visual Metaphor"
Speaker: Kent Hoeffner, Instructor in Philosophy, McLennan Community College
Thinking of the Gospels found in the Christian New Testament is not a difficult analogy to apprehend. However, the immediate follow-up question is: "Okay, but what KIND of portraits are they?" I suggest that, within the context of Christian thought, some would view the Gospels like photographs of the life of Jesus; others would see them like more-or-less realistic paintings; and still others would consider them to be more like abstract works of art. Expanding the analogy to apply to the entire Bible (or at least to the narrative portions) allows the instructor to provide non-threatening, non-pejorative categories for discussing conflicting views regarding biblical material or Christian theology.
The analogy further provides a means for introducing categories of critical methodology used by scholars to analyze the Bible--historical criticism, literary criticism, source criticism, redaction criticism, etc. Due to the analogical use of artistic works, students who hold a conservative view of the Christian scriptures are not as disturbed by critical categories as they might otherwise be. This approach also gives non-Christian students a window for appreciating the Christian scriptures without their needing to embrace the Bible as a literal chronicle of events.
Biography:
Dr. Kent Hoeffner received his Ph.D. in Theology from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1990. He has held a number of teaching positions, including as an Associate Professor at Truett-Mcconnell College and an Instructor at Indiana University—Southeast. He has been teaching philosophy as an Instructor at McLennan Community College in Waco, TX since 2005.
Saturday, March 3rd, 10:30 - 11:45 a.m.
"The Platonic Notion of Abstract Objects and the Theistic Metaphysical Vision: A Question of Compatibility"
Speaker: Eddy F. Carder, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Prairie View A&M University
This article explores the compatibility of, and relationship between, the Platonic and Theistic metaphysical visions. Platonism argues that a realm of necessarily extant abstract objects exists and that these abstract objects comprise a framework of reality beyond the material world, whereas Traditional Theism contends that God is primarily the Creator and that God is essentially what accounts for there being any world at all. He is causally responsible for the existence of everything other than Himself. A primary obstacle between the two perspectives centers upon the existence of abstract objects. The Platonic metaphysical vision contends that these abstract objects exist as a part of the framework of reality and that they are both necessary and eternal. Both of these qualities stand as challenges for the Theist since Traditional Theism contends that God is uniquely necessary and eternal, as well as the cause of everything that exists.
Therefore, how might these metaphysical perspectives be reconciled in light of these major and seemingly uncompromisible doctrines? Despite these differences, however, some Traditional Theists have found Platonism to be a helpful framework by which to convey their conclusions regarding the nature of God and of ultimate reality. Others pursue reconciliation between Theism and Platonism through the proposal of what has been defined as a modalized Platonism, which concludes that necessarily existing abstract objects, nevertheless, have origin in the creative activity of God. Still others refuse any consideration of Theism in relationship to Platonism.
Biography:
Eddy F. Carder received the Ph.D. in Philosophy and Ethics from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He also completed an internship in the field of Pastoral Care and Ethics focusing upon biomedical ethics with specific reference to the area of medical decision-making in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at the Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas. Dr. Carder completed postdoctoral non-credit summer studies at Cambridge University and Oxford University.
Dr. Carder currently serves as a member of the full time faculty of Prairie View A & M University as Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Division of Behavioral, Social and Political Sciences where he teaches courses in the Introduction to Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Law, History of Philosophy, and Critical Thinking. In addition, he is an Adjunct Instructor with Houston Community College System where he conducts courses in Symbolic Logic and Bioethics.
Philosophy Section Chair:
Jennifer Welsh, Lone Star College—North Harris