Logos Fall 2026
Fall 2026 Newsletter
Dear Friends,
A new academic year has begun here at the University of Delaware. Our senior philosophy majors are taking a capstone seminar with Carla Merino-Rajme on the philosophy of time. They are considering a variety of difficult topics: What is time? Does it pass? How are time and space alike and different? Is temporal experience wholly or partly illusory?
I hope you will read on to find out more about what is going on in the Department of Philosophy. Please keep in touch and stop in if you are in Newark!
Best Wishes,
Joel Pust
Chair, Department of Philosophy
Fall 2026 Class of 55 Lecture
The Fall Class of 55 Ethics Endowment event was a lecture by Professor Hanna Pickard (Johns Hopkins University). Pickard works on topics in philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychiatry, moral psychology, practical ethics, and criminal and mental health law and policy. Pickard's new book, What Would You Do Alone in a Cage with Nothing but Cocaine? A Philosophy of Addiction, was recently published by Princeton University Press. Her lecture, of the same title, was on the nature of addiction and was standing room only.
Link to UD Capture video: Fall 2026 Class of 55 Lecture: https://capture.udel.edu/media/1_ndr8d1ht/
Fall 2026 Departmental Colloquia
- The department hosted Professor Tim O’Connor (Indiana University) on Friday, September 25. O’Connor works primarily in metaphysics, philosophy of mind and philosophy of religion. His talk was “Consciousness and the Ontological Significance of Weak Emergence.”
- The department will host Professor Liz Jackson (Saint Louis University) on Friday, October 9, for a colloquium talk. Jackson works in epistemology, philosophy of mind and philosophy of religion.
Upcoming Events
The following events are open to all. If you're in the area and wish to attend, email Deb Biddle (dbiddle@udel.edu).
The Fall 2026 Norton Lecture will feature Ned Block of New York University discussing whether AI systems are conscious or not. Block is a luminary in the philosophy of mind who has done highly influential work on functionalism and mental content. If you took philosophy of mind at UD, you read Block! His talk is aimed at the general public and will be held in the Gore Recital Hall on Thursday, October 15, at 4:00 p.m. It is free and open to the public and a reception will follow.
UD Philosophy’s very own Professor Daniel Koltonski will present a colloquium talk to the department on Friday, November 13, in Gore Hall, Room 306. He works in ethics and political philosophy. For more information, email Deb Biddle (dbiddle@udel.edu).
Senior Seminar & Colloquium—Ian Phillips, Johns Hopkins University | Thursday, December 3, 4:00 p.m.
Professor Ian Phillips (Johns Hopkins University) will meet with the senior seminar and give a departmental colloquium on Thursday, December 3, at 4:00 p.m., in Ewing Hall, Room 210. Phillips works in philosophy of mind and philosophy of cognitive science. He’ll be discussing temporal experience with the seminar. For more information, email Deb Biddle (dbiddle@udel.edu).
Next semester, the department will host a debate on whether AI is ruining college education. Debating will be Anastasia Berg, a professor with University of California Irvine and Tamar Gendler, a professor and former dean of Arts & Sciences with Yale University. Check the UD Philosophy home page for event updates.
Graduation 2026
The department had 11 graduates in May 2026. They were Sophia Anderson, Sean Davis, Evan Diefenbeck, Samantha Drake, Nia Hardy, Khaja Jeelani, Seaanna Johnson, Lane Leitner, Sophie Levine, Caden Myers, and Nathan Toms. We look forward to hearing about their future accomplishments.
Philosophy prepared alumnus Ari Kantor for a high-pressure news environment
Alumnus Ari Kantor (philosophy and communication, 2022) gave a short speech to the graduates. Kantor works as a production assistant on the Inside Edition television show, and he detailed the many and humorous ways his philosophical education prepared him for a high-pressure news environment.
In a 2024 profile by UD Alumni & Friends, Kantor said, “Studying philosophy taught me foundational skills for compiling good research, conducting interviews and, on a personal note, understanding my own core values.”
Palmer and Plummer Awards
The Lucia Palmer award for the senior with the highest GPA in philosophy went to Nathan Toms.
The Nicholas Freemont Plummer award for the junior in philosophy judged most outstanding as a student and showing the most enthusiasm in his or her spirit of philosophical inquiry went to Christopher Wright.
Philosophy's Moment
Thomas Powers, professor of philosophy and director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Science, Ethics and Public Policy, was interviewed by UDaily about the risks, impacts and ethical questions surrounding AI, and how philosophers are helping shape the conversation.
A philosophy degree may seem like an unusual path to surgery, but it has served me well, and I am grateful for the education I received at UD.
Degree: B.A. in Philosophy, 2016
Dylan Buller's philosophy degree laid the foundation for a successful medical career
I graduated from the University of Delaware in 2016 with an honors B.A. in philosophy and minors in medical humanities and Spanish. While there, I was fortunate to receive the Nicholas Freemont Plummer Prize and the Lucia Palmer Memorial Award, and my essay "An Ethical Defense of Meat Consumption" won the Ethics Writing Contest.
I went on to medical school and a urology residency at the University of Connecticut, then a fellowship in urologic oncology at New York University. Along the way, I’ve published and presented research on a variety of topics; while this has mostly focused on prostate, kidney and bladder cancers, I've also had the chance to return to medical ethics, with work on post-mortem sperm retrieval and the disposition of cryopreserved gametes and embryos after a donor’s death. I now practice as a urologic oncologist in Hartford, Connecticut, where I care for and operate on patients with urologic cancers and help train UConn's urology residents.
I have very fond memories of studying philosophy at UD. Beyond the material itself, the coursework taught me to work through problems methodically and to make sure the foundation of evidence was solid before reaching a conclusion. I've relied on those principles constantly in training and in practice, whether in evaluating outcomes of a research study or counseling patients on interventions with varying risk/benefit profiles.
A philosophy degree may seem like an unusual path to surgery, but it has served me well, and I am grateful for the education I received at UD.
—Dylan Buller, MD, Urology, Hartford Hospital, Connecticut
Let us know what you are up to
Alumni! Please let us know how you are doing by emailing us at philosophy@udel.edu. We would love to post a short update about you in the newsletter.
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