Language, Ethics, and Ontology

Proceedings of the 1997 Undergraduate
Philosophy Conference

Douglas W. Shrader, editor

Oneonta, NY: Oneonta Philosophy Studies, 1998
352 + xvi pages

Preface

In April of 1997, thirty-six students from twelve institutions participated in SUNY-Oneonta's Second Annual Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. It was, without question, a rousing success.

Conference highlights included an informal lecture, demonstration, and guided meditation in Tibetan Buddhism by Lama Karma Tsultrim Gyamtso. A teaching-lama of the Karma Kagyu Lineage, Lama Tsultrim is currently assigned to the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery in Woodstock, New York. Hazel E. Barnes, renowned for her work in Existentialism, delighted a standing-room-only audience with an insightful, provocative, yet remarkably candid and intimate keynote address: Philosophy and Gender: A First-Person View.

Ninash Foundation Awards for Asian and Comparative Philosophy were presented to Daniel J. Bristol (SUNY-Oneonta) and John R. Hartmann (Alfred University). For a variety of reasons, most of which were practical rather than theoretical, best of conference awards were divided into two categories: papers by students from SUNY-Oneonta and papers by students from other institutions. The winners were:

  • SUNY-Oneonta
    • Daniel J. Bristol (first place)
    • Kevin Goetz and David Schaaf (second place)

  • Other Institutions
    • John F. Velona (Marymount University of Virgina) (first place)
    • David M. Gray (Columbia University)
      and Emily D. Porter (Vassar College) (second place)

Each of the conference papers represented an exceptional student's best work. In most cases, it was the first time the student had presented a paper beyond the confines of a classroom. The inherent intimidation of presenting one's work in public, combined with the knowledge that it would be subject to extensive blind review, resulted in a significant measure of self-selection. I know many capable students who elected not to submit. But for those who summoned the courage, the experience was remarkable. Presentations were clear, insightful, and informed. Discussion was spirited and robust. Selecting best of conference awards was not easy. Nor was it easy to decide which papers to include in the present volume.

The selected proceedings of the 1996 conference, Seeds of Wisdom, contained ten student essays with titles like "Biological Research and Feminist Obligation" (Jennifer Burke), "Concepts of Self: East and West" (Gabrielle Levin), and "Nietzsche's Appropriative Representation or Is the Overman a Hermaphrodite?" (John Devine). Language, Ethics, and Ontology is the second in the series. With luck, both the conference and the publication series will continue for many years to come. In fact, if these two volumes are a reliable guide to the future, it is a series destined to become a prestigious, veritably unparalleled collection of undergraduate student essays.

Editing Language, Ethics, and Ontology has been a labor of love. On the one hand, the project has demanded far more time and attention to detail than I had originally intended. On the other hand, the students with whom I have worked -- from other institutions as well as from SUNY-Oneonta -- have been sources of joy, inspiration, and delight.

A formal list of acknowledgments follows the student preface. Still, I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to thank my family (Barbara, Callie, and Sterling) for their patience, encouragement, and support. I also owe a special note of appreciation to Hazel Barnes and Lama Tsultrim for gracing our conference with their presence.

Without the assistance of faculty, staff, and administrators here at Oneonta, neither the conference nor this volume would be possible: thank you. Perhaps less obviously, without the editorial assistance of the 1997/1998 Undergraduate Conference Committee I would still be poring over manuscripts, searching for errant commas or misplaced computer codes: special thanks to Kevin Goetz, Alissa Kokkins, Kerri Nicholas, David Schaaf, Amanda Joy Schwarz, Lily Stolzberg, and -- especially -- Daniel Bristol.

Finally, I want to thank Dorothea Olkowski for allowing us to publish Hazel Barnes' keynote address. Though written initially for our conference, Hazel's essay has been selected for publication in a volume titled Feminist Enactments of French Philosophy (edited by Dorothea Olkowski). In a intriguing twist of lives and events, Dorothea, now Chair of Philosophy at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, was once a student at SUNY-Oneonta.

Douglas W. Shrader
Oneonta, New York

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