Knowing More About Knowledge Concludes UA ‘Philosophy Today’ Lecture Series April 29

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Ernest Sosa, one of the leading contemporary experts in epistemology (the study of knowledge), will discuss his research in epistemology and his leadership in the revitalization of virtue epistemology in his lecture “Epistemology Unified” April 29 at 7:30 p.m. in 38 Lloyd Hall on The University of Alabama campus.

Sosa’s lecture will conclude the 2007-2008 Philosophy Today lecture series, which is sponsored by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the department of philosophy, and alumni and friends of the department of philosophy.

“Ernest Sosa is known worldwide for his landmark work in epistemology,” said Dr. H. Scott Hestevold, chairman, UA department of philosophy. “The University is fortunate to have a philosopher of his stature give the public lecture on recent research in this important sub area of philosophy.”

After several decades at Brown University where he was the Romeo Elton Professor of Natural Theology, Sosa is currently the Board of Governors Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University.

He has served as a visiting professor at Western Ontario, Miami, Mexico, Harvard, Michigan, Texas and Salamanca universities. He has been a visiting fellow at St. Catherine College in Oxford, England; the Australian National University Canberra, Australia; and at All Souls College in Oxford, England.

Sosa has published many articles in journals and books, including two that were selected for The Philosophers Annual as “among the best ten articles” in 1990 and 1987. He published “Knowledge in Perspective: Selected Essays in Epistemology.” He has edited several collections and works of reference, and he serves as editor of both Philosophy and Phenomenological Research and Noûs –two of the most prestigious philosophy journals.

In 2002, Sosa was elected to give the John Locke Lectures at Oxford University. A two-volume work, “Apt Belief and Reflective Knowledge” (Oxford), contains the Locke Lectures, “A Virtue Epistemology,” as its first volume published in 2007; the second volume, “Reflective Knowledge,” will publish in 2009.

He is the recipient of many grants and fellowships from sources that include the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2001, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served as the president of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association and is finishing a three-year term as the chair of its board of officers. He is the subject of many entries in dictionaries and encyclopedias of philosophy and his contributions to the discipline have been recognized in “Ernest Sosa and His Critics.”

Sosa earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Miami and a doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

The Philosophy Today series featured six experts lecturing on several key areas of philosophy during the 2007-2008 academic year. These non-technical lectures are geared toward a general audience and should be of interest to those in any profession or academic discipline.

For more information, contact Dr. H. Scott Hestevold, chairman, UA department of philosophy, 348 1912.

Parking will be available in the lot on Shelby Drive (formerly Hackberry Lane) behind Nott and Gallalee halls and in the parking deck at the intersection of Shelby and Campus drives.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All-American Teams.