March 28 – 29, 2025
University of Puget Sound
Tacoma, WA
Conference Schedule
Friday 3/28
Friday talks other than keynote are in Trimble Forum
1:00-1:50
"Perfectionist Well-being and Care Ethics"
Evan Zicklin (Loyola Marymount University)
Comments by Emma Cole (Puget Sound)
Chair: Luke Lofton
2:00-2:50
"The Enlightenment Doomed AI to be Helplessly Human"
Lawrence Hapeman (Washington University in St. Louis)
Comments by Micah Beardsley (Puget Sound)
Chair: Taylor Irwin
3:30-4:20
"Anxiety, Causality, and Cognition"
Constantino Themelis (Boston University)
Comments by Magnus Mansfield (Puget Sound)
Chair: Donna Shaw
5:00-6:30
Keynote Address
“Artificial Intelligence and Destabilized Moral Concepts”
A talk by Regina Rini (York University)
Keynote address location: Rotunda, Wheelock Student Center
Abstract:
Generative AI systems are trained on millions of human works scraped from the internet without credit or compensation. Is this theft? Many people copy-paste their unwitting friends’ text messages into chatbots to help them craft clever responses. Is this a privacy violation? I will argue that the answer to these questions is indeterminate. Our existing moral concepts, like theft and privacy, cannot be cleanly applied to novel patterns of causation made possible by new machine learning technology. This has important implications both for moral theory and for public debate. We will need to resist the temptation to argue by analogy to familiar cases. Instead we will need to engage in deeper reflection on the central values encoded in our destabilized concepts, and weigh whether and how these can be re-implemented in unfamiliar conditions. Such fundamental rethinking can be legitimate only through public debate, not by technocratic fiat.
Saturday 3/29
all Saturday talks in Murray Boardroom (WSC 108)
10:30-11:20
"The Mathematical Floating Man: AI Welfare and Issues with Tokenization"
Ian Baime (Claremont McKenna College)
Comments by Tad Wolcott (Puget Sound)
Chair: Oliver Wright
11:30-12:20
"A Reconsideration of Causation and Responsibility"
Christian S. Daniels (Grand Valley State University)
Comments by Lily Steinmetz (Puget Sound)
Chair: Dominique Langevin
1:30-2:20
"Potential Completeness: A Sketch of Developing Aristotelian Friendships"
Harry Hou (Swarthmore College)
Comments by Kate Starkloff (Puget Sound)
Chair: Ainsley Feeney
2:30-3:20
"Political Inactivism"
Anastasija Petrovska (Stony Brook University)
Comments by Ellan Ober (Puget Sound)
Chair: Jordan Steinhart
We aim to be an inclusive and accessible conference. Please email us to PugetSoundPhilosophy@gmail.com with any questions or to discuss how we can best offer accommodation.
Old Programs:
2012 Conference Program
2013 Conference Program
2014 Conference Program
2016 Conference Program
2019 Conference Program
2023 Conference Program