13th Annual Moravian University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference

Friday, March 20, 2026
Program

All session will be held in person and open to the public
Haupert Union Building (HUB) Conference Rooms 410 A, B, & C

Each presentation will be 20 minutes and there will be 5 minutes for general questions at the conclusion of all the presentations. 

9:00-9:30 Breakfast - 410 A

10:00-10:10 Welcoming Remarks - 410 B

WELCOMING REMARKS

Opening Remarks and Introductions: Dr. Jay Scifers, Interim Provost and Chief Academic Officer and Conference Organizer Dr. Austin Baker, Assistant Professor of Philosophy
 

SESSION 1: 10:10-11:00  (simultaneous talks) 

A. Philosophy of AI - 410 B (Chair: Dr. Carol Moeller)

1) “The Relationship Between Epistemic Bubbles, Echo Chambers, and Social Contagion" Louis Spann (Moravian University)

2) “Private Platforms, Public Consequences" Milos Machalek (Temple University)

B. Philosophy of Psychiatry - 410 C (Chair: Onyxx Montalvo)

1) “From Label to Lived Reality: Inductive Risk and Ian Hacking's Looping Effects in Misdiagnosed Mental Illness" Alexander LaBar (Moravian University)

2) "A Dennettian Slip: How Intentional Language is Smuggled into Rodent Models of Psychiatric Disorders" Joseph Martensen (University of Pennsylvania)

11:00 - 11:15 Break

SESSION 2:  11:15-12:30 (simultaneous talks)

A. Explanation & Language - 410 B (Chair: Charles Carson)

1) “Marr's Levels of Explanation and Free Will" Onyxx Montalvo (Moravian University)

2) “Psychopaths and the Insanity Defense: Reframing the Test for Legal Insanity" George Ian Studzinski (Temple University)

3) “Would You Rather: Support Ordinary Language Philosophy, or Be Misgendered?" Ruben Giunta (Bard College)

B. Ethics - 410 C (Chair: Bryce Bitler)

1) "Split Selves. Political Agency, and Marginalized Resistance: A Fanonian Lens on Political Psychology" Jada Wilson (Temple University)

2) "Pleasure vs. Reality" Sean Heissler (Moravian University)

3) "On The Doubting Of Imperceptible Difference Cases" Matthew Simpson (Lafayette College)


12:30 -  1:30 Catered Lunch - 410 A

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Matthew Lindauer (1:30-2:45) - 410 B


ATTEND KEYNOTE TALK

The Fruitfulness of Normative Concepts

Abstract: Can philosophical concepts do real work in improving our world? Should we, when evaluating competing understandings of concepts like 'justice,' 'employment,' and 'solidarity,' take into account whether these different understandings can actually help us to fight injustice, empower the oppressed, and promote solidarity between people? In The Fruitfulness of Normative Concepts, I make the first book-length attempt to argue that the answer to both of these questions is an emphatic "yes," defending a tight relationship between philosophical theory and practice. The book advances the view that moral and political philosophers should be and often are interested in the "fruitfulness" of normative concepts - how well they help us to solve practical problems that we inevitably face as human beings interacting with one another. Philosophers must consult and sometimes conduct new empirical research to address questions of fruitfulness, in particular research in moral psychology. Hence, empirical research is not merely of side interest to moral and political philosophy but central to the philosophical enterprise of concept evaluation in these areas. In this talk, I will present the theory of normative fruitfulness developed in the book, discuss several case studies of empirical research that bears on dimensions of normative fruitfulness, and discuss prominent alternative ways of viewing the relationship between science and moral theory. I will also discuss how the approach taken in the book is compatible with traditional a priori theorizing in general, so long as such work makes room for empirical research to bear on fruitfulness considerations. 

 

Dr. Matthew Lindauer
 

Dr. Matthew Lindauer is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, and an Associate Professor of Psychology at the CUNY Graduate Center. He was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the Australian National University and received his Ph.D. from Yale in 2015. His main areas of research are moral and political philosophy, moral psychology and experimental philosophy. 

2:45 - 3:00  Break 

SESSION 3:  3:00-4:15 (simultaneous talks)

A. Philosophy of Religion - 410 B (Chair: Aram Derderian)
 

2) “For the Love of the Ant-Heap: The Grand Inquisitor's Contradiction" Joy Wetzel (DeSales University)

3) “Weak Theology, Julian of Norwich, and the Parable of the Lord and the Servant" Hayden Vallejo Dempsey (Bard College)

A. Feminist Philosophy - 410 C (Chair: Dr. Sarah Johnson)

1) "Freedom Does Not Exist Within Hierarchy: Exploring Anarcha-Feminism and the Limits of Political Equality" Helena Trauger (Penn State) 

2) “Lou Andreas-Salomé & Hedwig Dohm on Women as a Unifying Life Force" Jasmine Mehta (Temple University)

3) “Addressing and Reconciling with Essentialism in Anna Julia Cooper" Andreas Carleton (Temple University)
 

4:15 - 4:30 Break

SESSION 4:  4:30-5:45 (simultaneous talks)

A. Philosophy of Love - 410 B (Chair: Audrey Perrin)

1) “Solving Love's Paradox: Autonomy and Receptivity in Intimate Relationships" Sarah Chapla (Franklin & Marshall College)  

2) “On Love, Vulnerability, and the Limits of Human Rights" Malena Verduga Martinez (Bard College) 

3) “The Value of Moral Freedom: Even If It Is Non-Causal, God's Nature Is Determined" Lauren Marie Wall (University of Scranton)

A. Political Philosophy - 410 C (Chair: Louis Spann)

1) “Genealogy in Rousseau's Second Discourse: A Synthesis of Neuhouser and Griswold" Steven J. King (Temple University)  

2) “A Defense of Active Euthanasia: Letting Die, and the Right to Dignified Death" Charles Carson (Moravian University) 

3) “Complicity for Denying Political Responsibility" Asher Israel (Suffolk University)

 

Moravian Philosophy Faculty: Dr. Kin Cheung, Chair, Dr. Arash Naraghi, Dr. Carol Moeller, and  Dr. Austin Baker.
 

Participating Institutions 

  • Bard College
  • DeSales University
  • Franklin & Marshall College
  • Lafayette College
  • Moravian University
  • Penn State
  • Suffolk University
  • Temple University
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • University of Scranton