The Department of Philosophy is pleased to announce the schedule for the Spring 2026 Dialogue Series
Unless otherwise indicated, all events will take place in Comal 116.
Week I
What is Debate?
| Monday, Feb. 16 | 2 p.m. | “What point would you have me argue?” Frederick Douglass on the Limits of Debate | Greg Moses (Philosophy) |
| Monday, Feb. 16 | 4 p.m. | Reflections on the Socratic Elenchus | Craig Hanks (Philosophy) ΦΣΤ Tau Talks |
| Tuesday, Feb. 17 | 12:30 p.m. | The Lincoln-Douglas Debates | Dialogue Class |
| Wednesday, Feb. 18 San Marcos Public Library 625 East Hopkins St. | 3:30 p.m. | Debate and Its Value(s) | Wayne Kraemer and Jeremy Hutchins (Communications) |
| Thursday, Feb. 19 | 12:30 p.m. | Debate as Pedagogy: The Arthur School | Byron Arthur, with Dialogue Class |
| Friday, Feb. 20 | 12:30 p.m. | Listening as an Ethical Act | Ron Stockdreher (Philosophy) Engaged Ecology Spotlight |
Week II
Attention and How to Pay It
| Monday, Feb. 23 | 11 a.m. | What is Attention? | Isaac Wiegman (Philosophy) and Philosophy of Mind Class |
| Monday, Feb. 23 | 4 p.m. | Are We Distracted? | ΦΣΤ Tau Talks |
| Tuesday, Feb. 24 | 12:30 p.m. | From Distraction to Discernment: How to Pay Attention Without Being Fooled | Matthew Facciani (Notre Dame), with Dialogue Class |
| Wednesday, Feb. 25 San Marcos Public Library 625 East Hopkins St. | 3:30 p.m. | Attention and Intimacy: Knowing the World More Deeply Through Physics Teaching, Yoga, and Jazz Transcription | Hunter Close (Physics) |
| Thursday, Feb. 26 | 12:30 p.m. | “The Impact of Distraction and Mindlessness” | Dialogue Class |
| Friday, Feb. 27 | 12 p.m. | Attentive Driving: What We Miss | Juan Robaina (Philosophy) Engaged Ecology Spotlight |
Week III
Shame, Resentment, and Other Bad Feelings
| Monday, Mar. 2 | 4 p.m. | Should I Feel Bad? | ΦΣΤ Tau Talks |
| Tuesday, Mar. 3 | 12:30 p.m. | You Ought to be Ashamed! | Dialogue Class |
| Wednesday, Mar. 4 San Marcos Public Library 625 East Hopkins St. | 3:30 p.m. | Shame vs. Guilt: A Distinction with a Difference and Why It Matters in Therapy | Rebekah Ross, LPC |
| Thursday, Mar. 5 | 12:30 p.m. | Ressentiment and Its Critics | Rebecca Raphael (Philosophy), with Dialogue Class |
Week IV
Ancient Philosophers and Contemporary Life
| Monday, Mar. 9 | 4 p.m. | Plato and the Necessity of “Indirect Reading” | Vaughn Baltzly (Philosophy) ΦΣΤ Tau Talks |
| Tuesday, Mar. 10 | 12:30 p.m. | The Socratic Method in Everyday Life | Ward Farnsworth (UT Law) with Dialogue Class and Socrates Seminar |
| Wednesday, Mar. 11 LBJ 314 | 11 a.m. | What Can We Learn from the Stoics? | Ward Farnsworth (UT Law) Luizzi Ethics Lecture |
| Wednesday, Mar. 11 San Marcos Public Library 625 East Hopkins St. | 3:30 p.m. | Choosing Words Carefully | Ward Farnsworth (UT Law) |
| Thursday, Mar. 12 | 12:30 p.m. | Sophists and Modern Manipulation | Dialogue Class |
Week V
How Does Science Know?
| Monday, Mar. 23 | 4 p.m. | The Demons of Science | Clayton Wardwell (Undergraduate, Chemistry) ΦΣΤ Tau Talks |
| Tuesday, Mar. 24 | 12:30 p.m. | Why Scientists Know Things | Peter Hutcheson (Philosophy) with Dialogue Class |
| Wednesday, Mar. 25 San Marcos Public Library 625 East Hopkins St. | 3:30 p.m. | Development of Medical Science and Response to Infectious Disease in 20th century USA | Alan Groeger (Biology) |
| Thursday, Mar. 26 | 12:30 p.m. | Reality Beneath the Equations | Dialogue Class |
Week VI
Animal Natures
| Monday, Mar. 30 | 4 p.m. | Do Animals Have Moral Status? | Eli Kanon (Philosophy) ΦΣΤ Tau Talks |
| Tuesday, Mar. 31 | 12:30 p.m. | The Moral Statuses of Animals and Our Obligations | Deacon Newhouse (Philosophy) with Dialogue Class |
| Wednesday, Apr. 1 San Marcos Public Library 625 East Hopkins St. | 3:30 p.m. | From Human Exceptionalism to Ecological Kinship | Vicente Lopes (TXST Emeritus, Biology) |
| Thursday, Apr. 2 | 12:30 p.m. | Do Bugs Have Feelings? | Bob Fischer (Philosophy), with Dialogue Class |
| Friday, Apr. 3 | 12 p.m. | Non-Western Conceptions of (Animal) Nature | Enrique Castillo (Philosophy) Engaged Ecology Spotlight |
Week VII
Philosophy in Motion
| Monday, Apr. 6 | 4 p.m. | TBD | ΦΣΤ Tau Talks |
| Tuesday, Apr. 7 | 12:30 p.m. | Theseus, Stop Messing With my Ships! | Dialogue Class |
| Wednesday, Apr. 8 San Marcos Public Library 625 East Hopkins St. | 3:30 p.m. | The Creative Process | Ana Baer (School of Theatre, Dance, & Film and the Merge Dance Company) |
| Thursday, Apr. 9 | 12:30 p.m. | Walking and Driving | Dialogue Class |
Week VIII
Socrates and Plato
| Monday, Apr. 13 | 4 p.m. | The Creative Process | Ana Baer (School of Theatre, Dance, & Film and the Merge Dance Company) ΦΣΤ Tau Talks |
| Tuesday, Apr. 14 | 12:30 p.m. | Socrates as Martyr of Philosophy: Imitatio Christi? | Ivan Marquez (Philosophy) with Dialogue Class and Socrates Seminar |
| Wednesday, Apr. 15 San Marcos Public Library 625 East Hopkins St. | 3:30 p.m. | A Public Reading of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail | Greg Moses (Philosophy) |
| Thursday, Apr. 16 | 12:30 p.m. | The Gadfly Basis for Loyalty: Socrates in Plato’s Crito | Rebecca Raphael (Philosophy), with Dialogue Class |
| Saturday, Apr. 18 The Meadows Center 201 San Marcos Springs Dr. | 10 am - 4 pm | 13th Annual Earth Day San Marcos Festival | See the day’s schedule here |
| Monday, Sept. 22 | 1:00 p.m. | Laws Higher and Lower | Dan Thompson, Assistant Vice Provost-Faculty Success (Philosophy) |
| Monday, Sept. 22 | 4:00 p.m. | Are Moral Norms a Natural Kind? | Issac Wiegman (Philosophy) ΦΣΤ Tau Talks |
| Tuesday, Sept. 23 | 12:30 p.m. | Respect for the Law and Dissent: MLK and the Letter | Dialogue Class |
| Wednesday, Sept. 24 (San Marcos Public Library) | 3:30 p.m. | Law without Lawgivers? On (three flavors of) Philosophical Anarchism | Vaughn Baltzly (Philosophy) |
| Thursday, Sept. 25 | 12:30 p.m. | International Law and the Constitution | David Levy (Political Science) with Dialogue Class |
| Friday, Sept. 26 (Zoom) | 2:00-3:30 | Navigating Life Without Gravity | 10th Annual Space Settlement Symposium Guest Speaker: Gotthard Janson, NASA (ret.) |
| Friday, Sept. 26 (Flowers Hall 230) | 3:00 -5:00 p.m. | The Ethics of Migration: A Roundtable Discussion about Making Moral Progress -- Center for the Study of the Southwest | Alexander Sager, Philosophy, Portland State Allison B. Wolf, Philosophy, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá |
Talk of the Times and Tau Talks are open forums on current events and philosophical issues led by members of Phi Sigma Tau, the Philosophy honor society.
The Acorn Symposium Dialogues are co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, the Philosophy Dialogue Series, and The Acorn: Philosophical Studies in Pacifism and Nonviolence.
The Philosophy Dialogue Series Program Endowment supports the Philosophy Dialogue Series and its outreach activities at the San Marcos Public Library.
Co-sponsors of the Philosophy Dialogue Series are the American Democracy Project, College of Liberal Arts, Common Experience, Gina Weatherhead Dialogue Fund, Alliance, Step Up For State, Sustainability Studies, The Alkek Library, Humanities Texas, National Endowment for the Humanities, ΦΣΤ (Phi Sigma Tau, the philosophy honor society), University Seminar, The New York Times, Honors College, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Vice President for Student Affairs.
If you require accommodations due to a disability in order to participate, please contact 512.245.2285 at least 72 hours in advance of the event.
Texas State University is a tobacco free campus.
