In this 64th episode of the Philosophy Bakes Bread radio show and podcast, Eric Thomas Weber and Anthony Cashio had the pleasure to talk with three guests at the 2018 conference of the Public Philosophy Network in Boulder, CO, all hailing from Pacific Lutheran University: Matthew Salzano, Dr. Michael Rings, and Dr. Sergia Hay. We talked about “Philosophy as Play” with the three philosophers who founded SOPHIA’s South Puget Sound Chapter of SOPHIA in the fall of 2017.

At the time of recording this episode, which was in February of 2018, Matthew was graduating student at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washing. He was Editor-in-Chief of The Mast in 2016 student ran media company out of Pacific Lutheran University. His work appears in College Media Review and PLU publications like The Matrix and Resolute.

Dr. Michael Rings teaches and does research at PLU in ethics, social and political philosophy, and aesthetics. Michael has published work in the philosophy of popular music, and on aesthetic cosmopolitanism. In his free time Michael plays and composes music, hikes around in the Washington wilderness, and collects records.

Our third guest was Dr. Sergia Hay, also a professor of Philosophy at PLU. She focuses on applied ethics and the history of philosophy. Sergia is a Kierkegaard scholar and is currently doing research on his views of language while taking into account influence on his work by Johann Hamann, a contemporary of Kant. She also serves as the Interim Director of the Wild Hope Center, a center for vocation at PLU.

Listen for our “You Tell Me!” questions and for some jokes in one of our concluding segments, called “Philosophunnies.” Reach out to us on Facebook @PhilosophyBakesBread and on Twitter @PhilosophyBB; email us at philosophybakesbread@gmail.com; or call and record a voicemail that we play on the show, at 859.257.1849. Philosophy Bakes Bread is a production of the Society of Philosophers in America (SOPHIA). Check us out online at PhilosophyBakesBread.com and check out SOPHIA at PhilosophersInAmerica.com.

(1 hr 18 mins)

Click here for a list of all the episodes of Philosophy Bakes Bread.

Notes

1. Food symposia at Pacific Lutheran University, supported in part by SOPHIA, in 2014 and then in 2016.
2. The South Puget Sound Chapter of SOPHIA’s MeetUp group page.
3. The Seattle SOPHIA Chapter’s MeetUp group page, their Facebook page, and their Twitter profile.
4. bell hooks’s writings.

You Tell Me!

For our future “You Tell Me!” segments, Dr. Hay posed the following question in this episode:

“Do philosophers have an obligation to do public philosophy?”

Let us know what you think! Via Twitter, Facebook, Email, or by commenting here below.

The Society of Philosophers in America (

In case it is desired, you can download a printable, Adobe PDF version of this call for proposals here.

Interested persons can either submit a proposal for a panel at one of the following conferences, or they may individually submit to SOPHIA with the intent of joining with other SOPHIA presenters on a panel to be developed. Note that individual papers can often be submitted directly to a larger conference, but some events, such as SAAP’s, specify that “multiple submissions will not be accepted and that persons participating in invited sessions may not submit to the regular program.”

All submissions should be prepared for anonymous review, and be accompanied by a second document with contact information for each presenter. Please email your submission to danieljamesbrunson@gmail.com by 11:59 PM ET for each deadline below.

1: American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, 01/03/18 – 01/06/18 in Savannah, GA,

Proposal Submission Deadline is Monday, July 3rd. Individual Papers or Presentations: An Abstract of 300-500 words; Panels: An Abstract of 600-1200 words, with titles.

2: Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, 03/08-03/10 in Indianapolis, IN. Proposal

Submission Deadline is Monday, August 28th. Individual Papers or Presentations: 600 word abstract; Panels: A panel abstract of 450-600 word and at least 600 word abstracts per paper. For the SAAP event, our invitation is open, yet we encourage contributions that address the conference theme, “Ethos and Creativity.” The theme comes from a philosophically significant essay about the host city, Indianapolis, written by Indianapolis poet Mari Evans (1923–2017) about race and artistic practice.

3: 4th Conference of Public Philosophy Network, 02/8/18 – 02/10/18 in Denton, TX

Proposal Submission Deadline is Monday, September 11th. Individual Papers or Presentations: An Abstract of 300-500 words; Panels: An Abstract of 600-1200 words, with titles. The 2017 conference theme is philosophizing impact: What philosophical practices improve the uptake of philosophy, both across the disciplines, and throughout society?

4: American Philosophical Association, Central Division, 02/21/18 – 02/24/18 in Chicago, IL, Proposal

Submission Deadline is Monday, September 23rd. Individual Papers or Presentations: An Abstract of 300-500 words; Panels: An Abstract of 600-1200 words, with titles.

If you are interested in proposing a paper or a panel for an event not listed here, contact Dr. Brunson at the email address above. For more information about SOPHIA, visit our About page, “like” our Facebook page, and “follow” us on Twitter.

SOPHIA has the opportunity to hold a panel at the 2017 Eastern Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association. The conference will run from January 4th to the 7th of 2017 at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel, in Baltimore, MD. Alongside SOPHIA’s other activities, we do aim to represent ourselves and what we do in the country’s professional organizations. Such meetings are also a good opportunity to recruit people into membership and to grow chapters, as people learn about opportunities to gather with SOPHIA folks who live near them.

We will post details about our panel here soon as an “event” post. Reach out if you have ideas for panels that would be valuable for us to hold either at this or at other professional associations. We want to spread the word in and beyond the academy about SOPHIA’s new phase of growth. More soon.