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."

TitleLecturerYear
Self-Consciousness and ‘I’ – Anscombe and Sartre in Dialogue Béatrice Longuenesse2023
The Demarcation Problem for Philosophy Stephen Yablo2022
Counterfactuals, Compatiblism, and Rational Choice Robert Stalnaker2021
Progress in the Sciences and in the Arts Philip Kitcher2019
Identity and Social Bonds Joseph Raz2018
Cicero’s De Officiis – Stoic Ethics for Non-Stoics Gisela Striker2017
Animal Selves and the Good Christine M. Korsgaard2016
The Philosophy of “As If” Kwame Anthony Appiah2015
The Theoretical Impulse in Plato and Aristotle Sarah Broadie2014
Reason, Genealogy, and the Hermeneutics of Magnanimity Robert Brandom2013
Death and the Ancient Philosophers Jonathan Barnes2012
Proof, Truth, Hands, and Mind Ian Hacking2010
Thinking and Talking About the Self John Perry2009
The Ethics of Blame Thomas Scanlon2007
What We See Fred Dretske2007
Intention in Action John McDowell2006
Normativity Judith Jarvis Thomson2005
The Meaning of “Ouch” and “Oops” David Kaplan2004
Truth, Interpretation, and the Point of Moral Philosophy Ronald M. Dworkin2002
Philosophy the Day After Tomorrow – Moments in Nietzsche, Jane Austen, et cetera Stanley Cavell2002
The Wittgensteinian Event Stanley Cavell2002
On Aristotle’s Notion of the Soul Michael Frede2000
The Dappled World Nancy Cartwright1999
Anger and Revenge Myles Burnyeat1996
Happiness and Tranquility Myles Burnyeat1996
Ancient Freedoms Myles Burnyeat1996
Naturalism and Dualism in the Study of Language and Mind Noam Chomsky1994
Philosophy and the Fragments of Enlightenment Bernard Williams1988
Morality, Law and Politics Jürgen Habermas1988
The Concept of Practical Reason Jürgen Habermas1988
Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy Thomas Nagel1987
The Justification of Logical Laws Michael A. E. Dummett1986
A Reconception of Philosophy Nelson Goodman1985
The Socratic Fallacy Gregory Vlastos1984
Socrates’ Disavowal of Knowledge Gregory Vlastos1984
Relativism Richard Rorty1983
Why There Isn’t a Ready-Made World Hilary Putnam1981
The Transcendence of Reason Hilary Putnam1981
Truth and Subjectivity Michel Foucault1980
Causal Explanation David Lewis1979
Constructivist Moral Conceptions John Rawls1979
The Limits of Rationality Patrick Suppes1979
The Identity of the Self: Why is There Something Rather Than Nothing? Robert Nozick1978
Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language: An Exposition Saul Kripke1977
Perception and Its Objects Peter F. Strawson1977
Reference and Its Roots Peter F. Strawson1977
Truth, Determinism and Uncertainty Gunther Patzing1971
Sincerity and Uncertainty Stuart N. Hampshire1968
Problems of Induction Carl G. Hempel1964
The Intentionality of Sensation: A Grammatical Feature Elizabeth Anscombe1963
Assertion Peter Geach1963
Causes of Belief and Reasons for Belief Henry H. Price1963
Man, Techniques, and Meta-Techniques Gabriel Honor Marcel1961
The Cognitive Status of Theories Ernest Nagel1960
The Assuming of Objects Willard Van Orman Quine1959
Aristotle’s Contribution to the Theory and Practice of Historiography Kurt von Fritz1957
Paradox and Discovery John Wisdom1957
Logic and Philosophy I.M. Bochenski1956
The Impasse of Ethics and a Way Out Brand Blanshard1954
Some Problems in the Theory of Meaning Gilbert Ryle1954
Mysticism and Human Reason Walter T. Stace1954
The Acceptance of Time George Boas1949
Untitled Wilmon Henry Sheldon1946
The History of Townsend Harvey Gates Townsend1945
The Method of Knowledge in Philosophy Curt John Ducasse1944
Philosophy Goes to War Charles Montague Bakewell1943
Social Studies and Objectivity George Holland Sabine1941
Certainty George Edward Moore1941
Why Religions Die James B. Pratt1940
Empiricism and Natural Knowledge Sterling Power Lamprecht1938
Politics and Morals in Spinoza David W. Prall1938
Limits of Cognition and Exigencies of Action Heinrich Gomperz1937
Knowledge and Self-Consciousness Henry W. Stuart1936
An Approach to a Theory of Nature Frederick J. E. Woodbridge1935
Perspective and Contact in the Meaning Situation G. Watts Cunningham1934
Theory and Practice F. C. S. Schiller1933
The Uniqueness of Man Walter Goodnow Everett1932
Thought and Context John Dewey1931
Recent Ethical Theories James H. Tufts1930
Untitled Robert Mark Wenley1929
Space and Time Evander Bradley McGilvary1927
The Pragmatic Element in Knowledge Clarence Irving Lewis1926
Time and the Fourth Dimension William Pepperell Montague1925
A Modernist View of National Ideals Ralph Barton Perry1925
The Discontinuities of Evolution Arthur Oncken Lovejoy1923
Naturalism and the Belief in Purpose William Ernest Hocking1922
Intuition and Idealism William Ernest Hocking1922
Realism and Mysticism William Ernest Hocking1922