Abe, Macabee, and Izzy (University of Chicago Laboratory School Students)

In Conversation with Their Mother Agnes Callard (Philosophy, UChicago)

Thursday, May 21, 5:00-8:00 p.m. Central Time

Livestream on Crowdcast: click here to register for the conversation

 

At this event, we will discuss the following questions (and more):

• Are there things kids understand better than adults?
• How do kids imagine the future?
• Do kids feel free?
• Could someone have a good life if they stayed a child for all of it?
• Which philosophical questions interest kids?
• Is the child the father of the man?

Links for signing up for the rest of our spring Night Owls events on Crowdcast are live on this page! There have been more than 2,000 viewings of online Night Owls events so far this spring: come join the conversation!

You were a kid!

We were all kids, once, however surprising it may be–and perhaps even more surprisingly, we were each the very same person, at least in some ways, then, as we are now. This week, in 800 words or fewer, tell us a story from your childhood that captures who you are. Feel free to reflect on continuity, change, and the passage of time in your essay, but no need. It could also just be a great story. We are looking forward to reading your short, revelatory memoirs!

Essays are due Wednesday, May 20 at 3 pm CST, to Chicagophilosophynightowls@gmail.com.

Congratulations to the winners of this week’s Night Owls essay contest! You can check out the winning entires here. Thank you to all who entered, and we encourage you all to submit your work again–or for the first time–next week!

Brian Frye (Law, University of Kentucky)

In Conversation with Agnes Callard (Philosophy, UChicago)

Thursday, May 14, 5:00-8:00 p.m. Central Time

Livestream on Crowdcast: click here to register for the conversation

At this event, we will discuss the following questions (and more):

• What is plagiarism?
• Is it (always?) immoral?
• Can you own an idea?
• What is the difference between copyright laws and plagiarism rules?
• Who benefits from strict plagiarism rules in academia?
• Should grades be abolished?

There have been more than 1,700 viewings of online Night Owls events so far this spring: come join the conversation!

Congratulations to the winners of this week’s Night Owls essay contest! You can check out the winning entires here. Thank you to all who entered, and we encourage you all to submit your work again–or for the first time–next week!

Call for (plagiarized) essays!

This week, we are asking you to plagiarize. Your essay can be on any topic, just so long as the ideas are not your own. To participate in our plagiarism contest, send a plagiarized essay–subtle or flagrant–of 800 words or fewer, as well as a pdf of or a link to the essay you are plagiarizing, to ChicagoPhilosophyNightOwls@gmail.com by next Wednesday, May 13, at 3 pm CST. 

As a point of reference, consider the following series of plagiarism-friendly essays, beginning with Brian Frye’s effort to raise questions about the validity of plagiarism norms in academia, “Plagiarize this paper.” Agnes Callard accepted the invitation in “Is Plagiarism Wrong?” and Scott Mclemmee did a writeup of both at Inside Higher Ed, “Plagiarize This!” In the most recent installment, “Essay on Plagiarism,” William Derringer plagiarizes all three.

• Plagiarize this paper
• Is Plagiarism Wrong?
• Plagiarize This!

The Perils of Quantification

Ethan Bueno de Mesquita (Harris School, UChicago)

In Conversation with Agnes Callard (Philosophy, UChicago)

Thursday, May 7, 5:00-8:00 p.m. Central Time

Livestream on Crowdcast: click here to register for the conversation

 

At this event, we will discuss the following questions (and more):

• Should you put a price on human life?
• Is there accountability without measurement?
• Why do schools end up teaching to the test?
• What’s more important: getting what you want, or wanting the right things?
• Are economists at odds with ethicists?

There have been more than 1,400 viewings of online Night Owls events so far this spring: come join the conversation!

Am I a number?

So many academic disciplines use mathematical and statistical approaches to understand human behavior. Often, these are the regions of the academy called upon to influence public policy, and to help people more generally to make sense of their lives. What do we gain from looking at the human being in this way, and what is lost? Why are we tempted to think of ourselves and each other as numbers in the first place? Have we simply placed our fate in the hands of those who see us as numbers, or does it offer a perspective that we can take on ourselves that counterbalances the limitations of our own idiosyncratic perspectives? Where is probabilistic and statistical thinking apt, and where does it distort? We await your 800 word reflections on these questions and similar issues, such as:

• The quantifiable value of human life
• The role of accountability through measurement in how we live together
• Growing up a number
• Desire satisfaction and its limits
• Fairness, justice, and quantifiable value

Send your essays, letters, cartoons, fiction, poetry, memoirs, policy memos, screenplays of 800 words or fewer to ChicagoPhilosophyNightOwls@gmail.com by next Wednesday, May 6, at 3 pm CST. 

Congratulations to the winners of this week’s Night Owls essay contest! You can check out the winning entires here. Thank you to all who entered, and we encourage you all to submit your work again–or for the first time–next week!

Congratulations to the winners of this week’s Night Owls essay contest! You can check out the winning entires here. Thank you to all who entered, and we encourage you all to submit your work again–or for the first time–next week!

We also wanted to share another essay by Josef Lubenow (PhD, University of Chicago), who reflects on his experience at the university over the last 35 years, and what makes the University of Chicago so distinctive. You can find his essay here.