Talks by leading Australian and overseas philosophers who delivered them to the Blackheath Philosophy Forum in 2011.

If you attended the talks in 2011 and want to absorb them again, or if you missed a Forum and would like to know what was said, these archives are here for you to browse and enjoy.

They cover a wide range of topics and are valuable contributions to contemporary thought and thus worthy of being archived.

We think you will find them interesting and informative

We have listed them in alphabetical order according to topic. You just need to click on each topict to access the relevant talk.

HUW PRICE: Challis Professor of Philosophy, University of Sydney, and Director of the Centre For Time. Now appointed to the Bertrand Russell Chair of Philosophy at Cambridge University, UK.

EMPIRICISM, WILLIAM WHEWELL, AND THE ADVANCE OF SCIENCE

KEITH CAMPBELL: Emeritus Challis Professor of Philosophy, The University of Sydney.

HOW EVOLUTION TRACKS TRUTH

 

PAUL E. GRIFFITHS: (Professor of Philosophy, University of Sydney)

EROS AND FRIENDSHIP IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF PLATO

ANTHONY HOOPER (Doctoral candidate, The University of Sydney)

ON ACCEPTING THE WORDS OF OTHERS

LLOYD REINHARDT (Retired Senior Lecturer, USyd Philosophy and our philosopher in redsidence.)

PLATO'S ANALOGY BETWEEN LAW AND PAINTING

RICK BENITEZ
(Associate Professor of Philosophy, The University of Sydney)

SPACE, TIME AND TRINITY IN NEWTON AND LEIBNITZ

PAUL REDDING
(Professor of Philosophy, The University of Sydney)

ARTHUR EDDINGTON AND TIME'S ARROW

Huw Price (Challis Professor of Philosophy, and Head of the Centre for Time, The University of Sydney)

Does time really "flow", or is that just an illusion? Most physicists take the latter view, but Sir Arthur Eddington (1882–1944), who invented the phrase “time’s arrow”, was one of the exceptions. Eddington thought that there is something essential about time that physics neglects: the fact that it "goes on", as he puts it. He saw some of the problems with this idea, but issued a challenge to rival views that deserves to be better known.

APRIL 16
4 pm

Precis of Keith Campbell's Talk,

click HERE

EMPIRICISM, WILLIAM WHEWELL, AND THE ADVANCE OF SCIENCE

Keith Campbell (Emeritus Challis Professor of Philosophy, The University of Sydney)

Empiricism affirms that the only valid concepts describing natural phenomena are given by observation, and that the only justifiable theories explaining natural phenomena are confirmed by experiment and observation. Yet while the second principle remains crucial in the philosophy of science, the first is unsustainable. William Whewell was the first to point out that the advance of science doesn't fit the Empiricist paradigm. I will explain why, and why developments since Whewell's time (1830-1850) bear him out, and what the responses to this should be.

THE METAPHYSICAL FOUNDATION OF ZEN BUDDHIST PRACTICE

Paul Maloney (Senior Lecturer [Retd], UniversIty of Technology, Sydney)

Buddhism teaches all created things are impermanent. There is no absolute self. The human condition is characterised by unsatisfactoriness (dukkha) and ignorance of one's true nature leading to craving and aversion. The principle means of achieving liberation from dukkha is through the practice of seated meditation. The question I shall address is this - if all things are impermanent, and there is no self, what is meant by self-nature, and who awakens to it? Further, what is the causal relationship, if any, between practice and awakening?

HOW EVOLUTION TRACKS TRUTH

Paul E. Griffiths (Professor of Philosophy, University of Sydney)

Several philosophers have argued that evolution will not produce cognitive systems which track truth. I show that these ideas are mistaken. When the evolutionary optimum for truth tracking is properly formulated, it becomes plausible that we are excellent truth-trackers with respect to commonsense truths.

MAY 28
4 pm

Precis of Anthony Hoper's Talk,

click HERE

EROS AND FRIENDSHIP IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF PLATO

Anthony Hooper (Doctoral candidate, The University of Sydney)

Unlike in English, the Greeks had a different term for the love you show your partner to the love you show your children, parents, and friends. In this talk I discuss Plato's fascinating picture of the roles both the former (eros) and the latter (philia, or 'friendship") play in the philosophical life.

JUNE 11
4 pm

Precis of Lloyd Reinhardt'sTalk,

click HERE

"ON ACCEPTING THE WORDS OF OTHERS"

Lloyd Reinhardt (Retired Senior Lecturer, USyd Philosophy and our philosopher in redsidence.)

Most of the things you would say you know or would be willing to say flatly, to pass on in your own voice, you have come to know from others telling you face to face or from encyclopaedias, newspapers, school books, radio and television broadcasts, etc., etc. Philosophers speak of this as knowledge via testimony and, different from the 3 sources of knowledge that are uncontroversial, testimony is controversial. Matters bearing on the controversy will be discussed and the view taken than testimony is rightly taken to be a source of knowledge.

This talk replaced the schedule talk by Rachael Briggs (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Sydney) who was unable to come to the Forum due to an injury

 

PLATO'S ANALOGY BETWEEN LAW AND PAINTING

Rick Benitez (Associate Professor of Philosophy, The University of Sydney)

Plato's analogy between law and painting treats constitutions and statutes as forms of image. The analogy involves reference both to himself as image-maker and to limitations that necessarily accompany images. This renders trivial some of the discussion of Plato's analogy in current literature. It also sheds light on Plato's view about the rule of law. The analogy encourages readers to become like curators who recognize the imperfection, decay, and contextuality of law.

JULY 9
4 pm

Paul Redding's talk, click HERE

SPACE, TIME AND TRINITY IN NEWTON AND LEIBNITZ

Paul Redding (Professor of Philosophy, The University of Sydney)

In the 17th century philosophical and scientific issues were bound up with theology. In Leibniz's dispute with Newton, both appealled to God to defend their different conceptions of space and time. Leibniz had been critical of the anti-trinitarian theology of the early Unitarians, while Newton himself held anti-trinitarian views. I attempt to identify ways in which these different attitudes might have reflected their views about the physical world, and I ask if we have freed ourselves from theological concepts, despite the loss of theological clothing.

Please note: the last talk is
one week later, not fortnightly

 

THEORISING ABOUT CHINA'S RISE

Bob Howard teaches International Relations at the University of Sydney

International relations theorists have long debated which theory best describes the behavior of states in the international system, with the main contenders being realism, liberalism and idealism. The emergence of China and its impact on the world and our region provides a classic test of these theories. Which one holds up best?