On April 6th, Ohio Northern University hosted the Ohio Philosophical Association Conference, bringing in Philosophers from all across Ohio, with representatives of the Ohio State University, University of Toledo, Kent State, and other nearby universities. Dr. Jonathan Spelman, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ohio Northern, currently serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Ohio Philosophical Association. Students of Dr. Errol Katayama’s Metaphysics class also attended the conference.
The meeting began with a short gathering in the Burgett lobby, before attendants dispersed into separate sessions. The Conference had eight sessions, with four taking place in the morning and another four taking place in the afternoon. Each session presented two papers, followed by commentary and a period of question and answer. Sessions were grouped by topics such as “Ethics,” “Inquiry,” “Metaphysics and Mind,” and “Epistemology.” The program for the conference, as well as the abstracts for each paper presented, are available online.
In the morning sessions, Dr. Robert Hartman, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, presented a paper, co-authored with Dr. Taylor Cyr, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Samford University a paper entitled “Moral Responsibility for Consequences: A Problem for the Degree-Scope Distinction,” while Katayama chaired the session.
Hartman’s paper centered around the concept of moral luck: that people are praised or blamed for things beyond their control. Many people believe the consequences of one’s actions should not affect how much praise or blame they deserve. In this view, the only things people should be held accountable for are their intentions and their character. However, most of what we actually hold people accountable for are the consequences of their actions, even if those consequences are due to luck. Hartman’s paper comments on one potential way to address the issue. Hartman holds that people are blameworthy for the motivation, action, and consequences of their actions rather than just motivation and action.
After the first round of sessions, conference-goers gathered in the Inn for the Keynote Speaker. Jim Pryor, Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, gave a presentation titled “The Fragmentation of Belief.”
This presentation focused on how to define the term “belief.” Pryor argues that there are multiple dimensions under which the term belief can be understood, and that for the term to be useful, people discussing the term must negotiate the use of the term belief among those dimensions.
When asked about his thoughts on the keynote speech, Spelman said “I thought it was compelling, belief like a lot of concepts we talk about, we use the word in a kind of loose or ambiguous way, and we would do well to think carefully about how we use a word like belief or desire.”
In the afternoon, Dr. Darrin Snyder Belousek presented his paper “Conscience, Conflict, and Health Care: A Critical Examination of the Conflict-of-Interest Argument against Conscientious Objection”, during a session chaired by Dr. Hartman.
Not only did ONU faculty participate, but students did as well. Madeline “Maddie” Alexander, Forensic Biology and Chemistry, 2026, presented “An evaluation on the permissibility of property damage for the environment.” Michael Kirchner, Senior Philosophy and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) major, provided commentary.
Maddie reflected on her experience at the conference: “Presenting at OPA gave me an opportunity to share my work with others from universities all across Ohio, and hear their thoughts and feedback on my paper, it was extremely informative and enjoyable!”
Cross De La Cruz, a Senior PPE major and student in Katayama’s Metaphysics class said of the conference, “[The conference] is a great convention for intellectually thoughtful people to get together and exchange intellectual thoughts and musings, it’s a good thing that ONU’s holding.”