Series: Howison Lectures in Philosophy

In 1919, friends of Professor George Holmes Howison, many of whom had also been his students, established the Howison Lectures in Philosophy at the University of California. In their bequest, the donors wrote, “Professor Howison held the reasoned conviction that this world to its very depth is kindred to the human spirit; that it is a community of free persons, finite and infinite, sustained by the vision of the Perfect; and all his great powers were directed to awaken in others a loyalty to these ideas. And those, it would seem, would most speak from a foundation in his memory who were able to share with him this high purpose and conviction.”

Title Lecturer Year
Evolution and Animal Minds Peter Godfrey-Smith 2025
Character and Agency Susan Wolf 2024
Self-Consciousness and ‘I’ – Anscombe and Sartre in Dialogue Béatrice Longuenesse 2023
The Demarcation Problem for Philosophy Stephen Yablo 2022
Counterfactuals, Compatiblism, and Rational Choice Robert Stalnaker 2021
Progress in the Sciences and in the Arts Philip Kitcher 2019
Identity and Social Bonds Joseph Raz 2018
Cicero’s De Officiis – Stoic Ethics for Non-Stoics Gisela Striker 2017
Animal Selves and the Good Christine M. Korsgaard 2016
The Philosophy of “As If” Kwame Anthony Appiah 2015
The Theoretical Impulse in Plato and Aristotle Sarah Broadie 2014
Reason, Genealogy, and the Hermeneutics of Magnanimity Robert Brandom 2013
Death and the Ancient Philosophers Jonathan Barnes 2012
Proof, Truth, Hands, and Mind Ian Hacking 2010
Thinking and Talking About the Self John Perry 2009
The Ethics of Blame Thomas Scanlon 2007
What We See Fred Dretske 2007
Intention in Action John McDowell 2006
Normativity Judith Jarvis Thomson 2005
The Meaning of “Ouch” and “Oops” David Kaplan 2004
Philosophy the Day After Tomorrow – Moments in Nietzsche, Jane Austen, et cetera Stanley Cavell 2002
Truth, Interpretation, and the Point of Moral Philosophy Ronald M. Dworkin 2002
The Wittgensteinian Event Stanley Cavell 2002
On Aristotle’s Notion of the Soul Michael Frede 2000
The Dappled World Nancy Cartwright 1999
Happiness and Tranquility Myles Burnyeat 1996
Ancient Freedoms Myles Burnyeat 1996
Anger and Revenge Myles Burnyeat 1996
Naturalism and Dualism in the Study of Language and Mind Noam Chomsky 1994
Morality, Law and Politics Jürgen Habermas 1988
Philosophy and the Fragments of Enlightenment Bernard Williams 1988
The Concept of Practical Reason Jürgen Habermas 1988
Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy Thomas Nagel 1987
The Justification of Logical Laws Michael A. E. Dummett 1986
A Reconception of Philosophy Nelson Goodman 1985
Socrates’ Disavowal of Knowledge Gregory Vlastos 1984
The Socratic Fallacy Gregory Vlastos 1984
Relativism Richard Rorty 1983
Why There Isn’t a Ready-Made World Hilary Putnam 1981
The Transcendence of Reason Hilary Putnam 1981
Truth and Subjectivity Michel Foucault 1980
Constructivist Moral Conceptions John Rawls 1979
Causal Explanation David Lewis 1979
The Limits of Rationality Patrick Suppes 1979
The Identity of the Self: Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing? Robert Nozick 1978
Reference and Its Roots Peter F. Strawson 1977
Perception and Its Objects Peter F. Strawson 1977
Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language: An Exposition Saul Kripke 1977
Truth, Determinism and Uncertainty Gunther Patzing 1971
Sincerity and Uncertainty Stuart N. Hampshire 1968
Problems of Induction Carl G. Hempel 1964
Assertion Peter Geach 1963
The Intentionality of Sensation: A Grammatical Feature Elizabeth Anscombe 1963
Causes of Belief and Reasons for Belief Henry H. Price 1963
Man, Techniques, and Meta-Techniques Gabriel Honor Marcel 1961
The Cognitive Status of Theories Ernest Nagel 1960
The Assuming of Objects Willard Van Orman Quine 1959
Aristotle’s Contribution to the Theory and Practice of Historiography Kurt von Fritz 1957
Paradox and Discovery John Wisdom 1957
Logic and Philosophy I.M. Bochenski 1956
The Impasse of Ethics and a Way Out Brand Blanshard 1954
Some Problems in the Theory of Meaning Gilbert Ryle 1954
Mysticism and Human Reason Walter T. Stace 1954
The Acceptance of Time George Boas 1949
Untitled Wilmon Henry Sheldon 1946
The History of Townsend Harvey Gates Townsend 1945
The Method of Knowledge in Philosophy Curt John Ducasse 1944
Philosophy Goes to War Charles Montague Bakewell 1943
Social Studies and Objectivity George Holland Sabine 1941
Certainty George Edward Moore 1941
Why Religions Die James B. Pratt 1940
Empiricism and Natural Knowledge Sterling Power Lamprecht 1938
Politics and Morals in Spinoza David W. Prall 1938
Limits of Cognition and Exigencies of Action Heinrich Gomperz 1937
Knowledge and Self-Consciousness Henry W. Stuart 1936
An Approach to a Theory of Nature Frederick J. E. Woodbridge 1935
Perspective and Contact in the Meaning Situation G. Watts Cunningham 1934
Theory and Practice F. C. S. Schiller 1933
The Uniqueness of Man Walter Goodnow Everett 1932
Thought and Context John Dewey 1931
Recent Ethical Theories James H. Tufts 1930
Untitled Robert Mark Wenley 1929
Space and Time Evander Bradley McGilvary 1927
The Pragmatic Element in Knowledge Clarence Irving Lewis 1926
Time and the Fourth Dimension William Pepperell Montague 1925
A Modernist View of National Ideals Ralph Barton Perry 1925
The Discontinuities of Evolution Arthur Oncken Lovejoy 1923
Naturalism and the Belief in Purpose William Ernest Hocking 1922
Intuition and Idealism William Ernest Hocking 1922
Realism and Mysticism William Ernest Hocking 1922