Templeton
TagSeveral Philosophers Win Recent Templeton Grants
The John Templeton Foundation has awarded a number of grants over the past few months, and a few philosophers are among the recipients. (more…)
Sanders Foundation Announces Philosophy in the Media Initiative
The Marc Sanders Foundation has created a new fellowship program that “aims to increase the presence of philosophy in print, audio, and video media by training philosophers to write and produce for the public and by connecting philosophers to editors and commissioners in the media industry.” (more…)
Philosophy & Psychology Team Win Million-Dollar Grant for Work on Intellectual Humility
Mark Alfano, associate professor of philosophy at Macquarie University, along with Jay Van Bavel, associate professor of psychology at New York University (NYU) and Philip Pärnamets, a postdoctoral fellow in psychology at NYU, have won a AU$1,382,150 (approximately $924,000) grant from the John Templeton Foundation for a project on intellectual humility. (more…)..
$1.3 Million Grant for Philosophy of Religion in North America, Latin America, UK
Luis Oliveira, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Houston, has received $1.3 million to lead an international project on the epistemology of religion. (more…)
$1.2 Million for Free Will Project in Colombia
Santiago Amaya (Universidad de los Andes) and Manuel Vargas (University of California, San Diego) have won a $1.2 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for their project, “Free Will, Agency, and Responsibility.”
Philosophers Win $1.1 Million in Grants to Study Epistemology of Religion
Professor Jon McGinnis and Assistant Professor Billy Dunaway, philosophers at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, have received substantial funding for a project that brings together Medieval Islamic philosophy and contemporary epistemology of religion. (more…)
Philosopher Wins $1.8 Million Grant to Study Minority Entrepreneurship
Chris Surprenant, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of New Orleans (UNO) and director of the university’s Honors Program, has won an $1.8 million grant to “examine entrepreneurship patterns in urban communities and support would-be entrepreneurs, with specific focus on black communities, throughout the southeastern United States.” (more…)
Untangling the Strings: The Limits of Acceptable Donor Influence in Academia (guest post by Chris Surprenant)
“Our donors are supporting our projects, not the other way around.”
The following is a guest post* by Chris Surprenant, associate professor of philosophy at the University of New Orleans, on the role that those who fund academic programs may have in determining program goals, methods, materials, and staff. (more…)
$1.37 Million Grant for Philosophy of Cosmology
Christopher Smeenk, associate professor of philosophy at Western University, and James Weatherall, professor of logic and philosophy of science at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), have been awarded a $1.37 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for their project, “New Directions in Philosophy of Cosmology.”
$2.6 Milllion Grant for “The Geography of Philosophy”
Philosophers Edouard Machery (Pittsburgh) and Stephen Stich (Rutgers) and anthropologist H. Clark Barrett (UCLA) have been awarded a $2,569,563 grant from the John Templeton Foundation to fund their project, “The Geography of Philosophy: An Interdisciplinary Cross-Cultural Exploration of Universality and Diversity in Fundamental Philosophical Concepts.” (more…)
Plantinga Wins 2017 Templeton Prize
Alvin Plantinga, John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, is the winner of the 2017 Templeton Prize. (more…)
$2 Million in Fellowships for Improving Public Discourse
Humility and Conviction in Public Life, an interdisciplinary endeavor at the University of Connecticut directed by philosopher Michael P. Lynch and funded by the John Templeton Foundation, has awarded a total of $2 million to ten scholars engaged in various projects to improve public discourse. (more…)
Nearly $1 Million To Study Ethics of Gene Editing
The Hastings Center, an independent, interdisciplinary bioethics research institute in upstate New York, was recently awarded nearly $1 million from the John Templeton Foundation for a three-year project to study the ethical and social implications of gene editing methods (like Crispr-Cas9) on germline cells (changes to which would be passed down to future generatio..
$5.75 Million for Philosopher-Led Interdisciplinary Project on Public Discourse
Michael Lynch, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, has been awarded a $5.75 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for The Public Discourse Project: Balancing Humility and Conviction in Public Life, an interdisciplinary research and engagement project. Historian Brendan Kane is the co-principal investigator on the grant. It is the sin..
Philosophy Talk Wins Templeton for “Philosophical Guide to the Cosmos”
John Perry and Ken Taylor, professors of philosophy at Stanford University and hosts of the radio program Philosophy Talk, have won a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to produce an eight-episode series called “A Philosophical Guide to the Cosmos.”
The series seems motivated by recent dismissals of philosophy by well-known scientists (see, for example here..
Four Philosophers of Biology Win $2.1m
Alan Love (Minnesota), C. Kenneth Waters (Calgary), Marcel Weber (Geneva), and William Wimsatt (Minnesota, Chicago) have won a $2.1 million grant from the Templeton Foundation for their project “From Biological Practice to Scientific Metaphysics”. The funding will support, among other things, summer institutes, lectures, post-docs, and graduate students. More infor..
18 “Hope & Optimism” Projects Receive $2m Funding
Hope and Optimism: Conceptual and Empirical Investigations, an interdisciplinary initiative headed by Andrew Chignell (Cornell) and Samuel Newlands (Notre Dame) which last year received about $4.5 million from the John Templeton Foundation, has just announced $2 million in funding for 18 projects. Philosophers receiving funding in this round include:
- Matthew Ben..
$2.1 Million for the Meaning of Life
Jennifer Frey (South Carolina) and Candace Vogler (Chicago) have received a $2.1 million grant for their project, “Virtue, Happiness, and Meaning of Life.” The project will be jointly hosted by the Neubauer Family Collegium for Culture and Society at the University of Chicago and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina and is funded prim..
Experience Project Fellows Announced
The Experience Project, a Templeton-funded, $4.8 million, three-year initiative at the University of Notre Dame and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has announced its Fellows for the 2015-16 and 2015-17 projects.
The project has two parts, one on Religious Experience and one on Transformative Experience. The Religious Experience Fellowship winners a..
Philosopher Awarded $5.1 Million for Study of Happiness
Philosopher Daniel Haybron (St. Louis University) has won a $5.1 million for a three year project on happiness and well-being. Most of that funding—$4.6 million— is coming from the John Templeton Foundation, with the remaining $453,000 coming from St. Louis University. From a press release from SLU:
Titled Happiness and Well-Being: Integrating Research Across..
Over $1m for the Philosophy of Quantum Gravity
Nick Huggett (UIC) and Christian Wüthrich (Geneva) have won a $1.1 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to support their project, “Space and Time after Quantum Gravity,” on the philosophical implications of theories of quantum gravity (a continuation of their “Beyond Spacetime” project).
Professor Wüthrich writes:
The premise of the project is that..
Dennett Withdraws from Templeton-Sponsored Event
Daniel Dennett (Tufts) has withdrawn from the popular World Science Festival upon learning of its funding from the John Templeton Foundation. Dennett, whose opposition to Templeton has been discussed here before, is reported by The Washington Post as saying:
“I would be very happy to have the Templeton Foundation sponsor research on religion and science,” he said..
Arizona’s Freedom Center Wins $2.9m Grant
The John Templeton Foundation has awarded a $2.9 million grant to the University of Arizona’s Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, which is directed by David Schmidtz.
According to press release from the university:
The gift to the center, part of the UA’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, will be used to help the center to collaborate with the colle..
More on Funding & Philosophy
A couple of weeks back we discussed questions related to funding and philosophy in the context of Daniel Dennett’s review of a recent book by Alfred Mele (original post; Mele’s reply). Matthew Brown, a philosopher of science (UT Dallas), thinks that one of the central questions raised there should get more attention. He wants us to “think past the specific details o..
Mele Replies to Dennett on Templeton Funding (Guest Post)
Yesterday’s post, “Funding and Philosophical Results,” on Daniel Dennett’s critique of Alfred Mele’s acceptance of money from the John Templeton Foundation, generated a fair amount of discussion, with contributions from Dennett and his critics. Al Mele has now written a reply to Dennett, presented in the guest post*, below.
Reply to Dennett
Dan Dennett sugges..
Funding and Philosophical Results (Updated w/ Replies by Dennett)
Suppose you were reviewing a scientific report that drew the conclusion that a diet without fat was in fact unhealthy, and that butter and cream and even bacon in moderation were good for you, and suppose further that the science was impeccable, carefully conducted and rigorously argued. Good news! Yes, but the author acknowledges in fine print that the research was..
The $4.8 Million Experience
Samuel Newlands (Notre Dame), L. A. Paul (North Carolina), and Michael Rea (Notre Dame) have won a grant of $4.8 million from the Templeton Foundation for a three-year interdisciplinary project on the nature of experience. The project explores the nature and implications of transformative experiences, the character of religious and spiritual experiences, and how wor..
Nancy Snow (Marquette) Wins $2.6 Million to Study Virtue
Nancy Snow (Marquette University) has won a $2.6 million grant from the Templeton Religious Trust for a project called “The Self, Motivation, and Virtue.” More info here and on the Marquette Philosophy Department’s home page.