Philosophy Professor Awarded Hourani Prize
by My Nguyen, Student Intern of CHASS Computing College
On February, 15, 2008, the University of Buffalo Philosophy Department announced that UCR Philosophy Distinguished Professor and Chair, John Martin Fischer was chosen to deliver the Fall 2008 Houriani Lectures.
Fischer received his Ph.D. and M.A. at Cornell University, where he received the Cornell University Graduate Fellowship for 1976-77, and the Cornell Continuing Humanities Fellowship for 1977-78. His research interests include such topics as metaphysics, moral philosophy, philosophy of mind (free will) and philosophy of religion. Ranging from these topics are some of his latest publications which include, Responsibility and Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility, co-authored with Mark Ravizza, Cambridge 1998, and The Metaphysics of Free Will: An Essay on Control, Blackwell, 1994.
Professor Fischer's topics will be Free Will and Moral Responsibility. The date of his lectures are as follows: 9/24/08, 9/26/08, 10/1/08, 10/6/08, and 10/10/08.
The Hourani Lectures are given every two years by philosophers working in either ethics or Islamic philosophy. The endowment was generously left to the University of Buffalo Philosophy Department by the late George Houriani, and provides an award of $12,000 to the speaker.
Previous Hourani lecturers have been Jeff McMahan, Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Onora O'Neill, and Shelly Kagan.
