31st SU Philosophy Symposium Examines 'Freedom and Responsibility' Saturday, April 16

SALISBURY, MD---Are people really free to make their own decisions, or are most actions pre-determined by genes and social environment?

Drs. Michael McKenna and Derk Pereboom address this question and more during the 31st annual Salisbury University Philosophy Symposium, “Freedom and Responsibility,” 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 16.

The event begins with a continental breakfast at 9 a.m. in Caruthers Hall Auditorium. During the morning session, McKenna and Pereboom address some of the philosophical issues surrounding free will and determinism. Following a break for lunch, faculty panelists comment on the debate and the ultimate question: “How free are we?”

The audience is invited to join in the discussion throughout the day.

McKenna is the Keith Lehrer Chair of the University of Arizona’s Philosophy Department and Center for the Philosophy of Freedom. Earning his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1993, he specializes in metaphysics, and the philosophy of free will and ethics. McKenna is the author of the forthcoming book Conversation and Responsibility.

He also has published several articles and chapters, including “Contemporary Compatibilism: Mesh Theories and Reasons-Responsive Theories” in the second edition of the Oxford Handbook of Free Will (2010).

Pereboom, who teaches in Cornell University’s Sage School of Philosophy, is the author of several books and articles on free will. They include Consciousness and the Prospects of Physicalism (2011), Four Views on Free Will (2007, with John Martin Fischer, Robert Kane and Manuel Vargas) and Living without Free Will (2001).

Earning his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in 1985, he specializes in the study of free will and moral responsibility, philosophy of the mind, the history of modern philosophy (with an emphasis on Immanuel Kant) and the philosophy of religion.

Sponsored by the SU Philosophy Department, admission to the symposium is free and the public is invited. For more information call 410-677-5070 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.