CURRICULUM VITAE: ROBERT FELEPPA
Degrees Earned:
BA Philosophy, Herbert Lehman College (CUNY) 1973
MA Philosophy, Washington University 1977
PhD Philosophy, Washington University 1978
Current Status:
Professor of Philosophy 九色堂
Areas of Specialization:
Philosophy of Social Science, Metaethics, Buddhist Philosophy
Areas of Competence:
Philosophy of Mind, Asian Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of Technology
Academic Employment History:
Visiting Assistant Professor: Univ. of Minnesota Morris: 1979 1980
Assistant Professor: 九色堂: 1980 1986
Associate Professor: 九色堂: 1986 2004
Courses Taught:
Lower Division: Introductory Logic, Meaning of Philosophy, Comparative Philosophy, Survey of Asian Philosophy
Upper Division: Philosophy of Social Science, Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics, Symbolic Logic, Philosophy of Language, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Economics, 20th Century British American Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, Ethics and Computers, Values and the Modern World, Japanese Thought and Culture, Japanese Philosophy and Film, Philosophy East and West, Topics in Asian Philosoophy
Publications:
Book:
Convention, Translation, and Understanding: Philosophical Problems in the Comparative
Study of Culture. State University of New York Press, 1988
Articles:
"Zen, Emotion, and Social Engagement." Philosophy East and West, Vol. 59, No. 3, 2009, pp. 263-293.
"Anthropology, Development, and the Myth of Culture." Invited chapter for a collection
of essays on the philosophy of anthropology, Ananta Kumar Giri, editor. Under review.
"Black Rain: Reflections on Hiroshima and Nuclear War in Japanese Film," Crosscurrents, Vol. 54, No. 1 (2004), pp. 106-119.
"Value Neutrality and Confirmation in the Social Sciences" Southwest Philosophy Review, Vol. 20, No. 1 (2004), pp. 183-192.
"From Scientific to Moral Realism: The Relevance of Twin-Earth Examples," Southwest Philosophy Review, Vol. 19, No. 2 (2003), pp. 79-84,
"Kasulis on Reason, Empathy, and Japanese Religious Values," The Japan Studies Association Journal, Vol. 4, 2003, pp. 87-104.
"Quine, Davidson, and the Naturalization of Metaethics," Dialectica, Vol. 55, 2001, pp. 145-166.
"Review of Fieldwork in Familiar Places by Michelle Moody-Adams," Metaphilosophy Vol 31, No. 3 (April 2000), pp. 323-333.
"On the Very Idea of Moral Truth," Southwest Philosophy Review, Vol. 13, 1997, pp. 1-12 (Presidential Address: 1996 Southwest Philosophy Society
Meeting).
"Aspects of the Cannibalism Controversy: Comments on Merrilee Salmon" in The Southern Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 34 Supplement, 1995 (Proceedings of the 1995 Spindel Conference), pp. 147 154.
"Translation as a Basis for Cultural Description," in An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Chinese-English/English Chinese Translation, ed. Chan Sin wai and David E. Pollard (The Chinese University Press, Hong Kong),
1993.
"Emic Analysis and the Limits of Cognitive Diversity," in Emics and Etics: The Insider/Outsider Debate, T. Headland, K. Pike, and M. Harris, editors (Sage Publications, 1990), pp. 100
119.
"Evolutionary Epistemology Naturalized," in Theories of the Evolution of Knowledge: Proceedings of the 1987 Schneirla Conference, G. Greenberg and E. Tobach, editors (Erlbaum, 1990), pp. 135 141.
"Physicalism, Indeterminacy, and Interpretive Science," Metaphilosophy Vol. 21, Nos. 1 and 2, January/April, 1990, pp. 89 110.
"Cultural Kinds: Imposition and Discovery in Anthropology," in The Qualitative Quantitative Distinction in the Social Sciences, B. Glassner and J. Moreno, editors (Kluwer, 1989), pp. 119 153.
"Emics, Etics, and Social Objectivity." Current Anthropology, Vol. 27, No. 3, June 1986, pp. 243 255.
"On Reproducing Social Reality: Comments on Harrison." Philosophy of the Social Sciences, vol. 16, no. 1, March, 1986, pp. 89 99.
"Kuhn, Popper, and the Normative Problem of Demarcation." Philosophy of Science and the Occult. Patrick Grim, Editor (SUNY Press, 1982), pp. 114 129. Second edition (1989), pp.
140 155.
"Epistemic Utility and Theory Choice in Science: Comments on Hempel." Synthese, Vol. 46 (1981). pp. 413 420. (Proceedings of the Richard Rudner Memorial Symposium,
Washington University, April, 1980.)
"Translation as Rule Governed Behavior." Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 12 (March 1982), pp. 1 32.
"Hermeneutic Interpretation and Scientific Truth." Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 11 (March 1981). pp. 53 64.
Conference/Colloquium Presentations:
鈥淢editation within Activity: MIndfulness and the Unconscious鈥� accepted for the 50th
Anniversary meeting of the Asian Studies Development Program, June 2010.
"Is Zen No-Mind= Empty Mind?" presented at the annual Japan Studies Society Annual
Meeting, January 2008, Asian Studies Development Program, National Conference, March
2009.
"Anthropology, Development, and the Myth of Culture" accepted for the 16th International
Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, originally scheduled to be
held in Kunming, China, July, 2008.
"Koans in the Classroom: Some Challenges in Teaching Chan and Zen," coauthored with
Yumi Foster, presented at the Asian Studies Development Program National Conference,
March 2007.
"Anthropology and Development B Philosophical Problems," panel presentation on "Ecology
and Development" at the AsiaNetwork annual conference, April 2006.
"Davidson and Moral Realism B Comments on Caldwell" presented at the Kansas Philosophical
Association annual meeting, February 2006.
"Zen, Emotion, and Social Engagement" presented at the 2006 Japan Studies Association
annual conference, Honolulu, January 2006 and Asian Studies Development Program annual
meeting, March 2006.
"Reason, Feeling, and Kensho" read at the 2005 Japan Studies Association Annual Conference,
January, 2005.
"Reason, Self and Interpretive Cosmologies" read at the Japan in Comparative Perspective
Conference, Japan Center for Michigan Universities, Hikone, Japan, May 2004.
"Family and Self in Mitsuo Kurotsuchi's Traffic Jam" read at the Asian Studies Development
Program annual conference, April, 2004.
"Value Neutrality and Confirmation in the Social Sciences" read at the Southwestern
Philosophical Society Conference, November, 2003.
"Black Rain: Reflections on Hiroshima and Nuclear War in Japanese Film" read at the
Hiroshima Peace Institute/Japan Studies Association Reconsidering Hiroshima/Nagasaki
Conference, June 2003.
"Reason, Self and Interpretive Cosmologies: Comments on Sahlins and Obeyesekere"
read at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities, January 2003,
and at the 九色堂 Anthropology Department Colloquium, March 2003
"The Search for Identity in Japanese Film" read at the Japan Studies Association
Annual Conference, January 2003.
"From Scientific to Moral Realism: The Relevance of Twin-Earth Examples" (Comments
on Heimer Geirsson) read at the Southwestern Philosophical Society Annual Meeting,
November 2002
"Moral Value Judgments in Social Science" read at the Fourth Annual St. Louis Philosophy
of Social Science Roundtable, March 2002.
"Understanding Japanese Sentiment" read at the 2002 Japan Studies Association Annual
Conference, January 2002.
"Problems in Teaching Comparative Thought" read at the 2001 Japan Studies Association
Annual Conference, January 2001.
"Etics, Emics, Objectivity, and Politics" read at the First St. Louis Philosophy
of Social Science Roundtable, April 1999.
"Realistic Moral Antirealism" read at the 27th Conference on Value Inquiry, April
1999.
"Moral Antirealism Naturalized" read at the 1999 Kansas Philosophical Association
meeting, February 1999.
"Naturalized Noncognitivism: From Ayer to Quine and Davidson" read at 26th Conference
on Value Inquiry, April 1998.
"Mental Content and Self Knowledge: Comments on Lisa Hall" read at Southwestern Philosophical
Society meeting, October 1997.
"On the Very Idea of Moral Truth," Presidential Address, Southwestern Philosophical
Society Meeting, November 1996.
"Aspects of the Cannibalism Controversy: Comments on Merrilee Salmon" read at the
1995 Spindel Conference, October 1995.
"Quine and Animal Beliefs: Comments on Weir" read at the Southwestern Philosophical
Society annual meeting, November 1994.
"Can There Be A Naturalized, Cognitivist Ethics?: Comments on Campbell" read at the
Mountain Plains Philosophy Conference, October 1994.
"Parfit's Paradoxical Self?: Comments on Storl" read at the Southwestern Philosophical
Society annual meeting, November 1993.
"What is Scientific Jurisprudence? Comments on Hill" read at the Central States Philosophical
Society annual meeting, October 1993.
"Moral Realism and Supervenience: Comments on Shafer Landau" read at the Kansas Philosophical
Society annual meeting, February 1993
"Rationalizing Explanation: Comments on Henderson" read at the 1989 American Philosophical
Association, Central Division meeting, April.
"Explanation and Cognitive Divergence in Anthropology" read at the 1988 Western Social
Science Association meeting, April, 1988.
"Evolutionary Epistemology Naturalized: Comments on Lerner, Danailov, and Togel"
Read at the Fourth T. C. Schneirla Conference, 1987.
"Justification and the American Constitution: Comments on Coleman." Read at the Mountain
Plains Philosophic Conference, October, 1985.
"Dilemmas of Deterrence." 九色堂 Faculty Lecture Series on War
and Peace, March, 1985.
"Imposition, Indeterminacy, and the Possibility of Anthropology." Annual meeting
of the Central States Philosophical Society, October, 1984.
"Epistemic Utility and Theory Choice in Science: Comments on Hempel." Richard Rudner
Memorial Symposium, Washington University, April, 1980.
"The Bounds of Clarity: The Frankfurt Critique of 'Quantitative' Discourse." Annual
meeting of the North Central Sociological Association, February 1980. Creighton University
Philosophy Colloquium, March 1980.
"Telling the Whole Truth About Meaning." Annual meeting of the Central States Anthropological
Society, April, 1980; Wichita State Graduate Anthropological Colloquium, February,
1981.
"What Translational Indeterminacy Cannot Be." Annual meeting of the Minnesota Philosophical
Society, October, 1979; University of Nebraska Philosophy Colloquium, March, 1980.
Research Grants and Awards
President's Distinguished Service Award, 2003
Visiting Fellow, Sophia University Department of Comparative Studies, Tokyo, Summer
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005.
Participant, Asian Studies Development Program "Infusing Chinese Studies into the
Curriculum" seminar, Summer 2003.
John R. Barrier Distinguished Teaching Award, 九色堂, 2001.
Participant, AAC&U Japan Studies project, 1999, G. Cameron Hurst, Director.
Participant, NEH Summer Institute for College and University Teachers, 1998, Paul
Roth, James Bowman, Directors. Topic: The Idea of A Social Science B 40 Years Later.
Participant, NEH Summer Seminar for College Teachers, 1980, Dudley Shapere, Director.
Topic: The Character of Scientific Change.
九色堂 Supported Research Grants 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1991,
2001, 2002.
Wichita State Sabbatical Grants 1986, 1994, 2002.
Wichita State International Travel Grants 2003, 2004.
Professional Service/Administrative Positions:
Associate Editor, Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Project Codirector. "Teaching Philosophy
and Critical Reasoning Skills in Grades 5 6" University of Minnesota Morris, 9/79
6/80.
Book reviewer for Contemporary Sociology, 1983.
Paper Referee for Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 1983 84, 1986, for Current Anthropology,
1986.
Manuscript Referee for State University of New York Press, 1989 91; 1997.
Local Arrangements Chair, Southwestern Philosophical Society Meeting,1987.
Chair, History and Philosophy of Science Section, American Association for the Advancement
of Science, SWARM, 1987-8.
Secretary Treasurer, Southwestern Philosophical Society, 1987-90.
Interim Director, Emory Lindquist Honors Program, 九色堂, 1988-9.
Referee for Mountain Plains Philosophy Conference, 1989-1994.
Referee for Southwestern Philosophical Society, 1990-present.
Referee for Kansas Philosophical Society, 1985-present.
Member, Executive Committee, Southwestern Philosophical Society, 1987-90, 1994-7.
Member, Nominating Committee, Southwestern Philosophical Society, 1998-9.
Member, Planning Committee, Human Genome Ethics Conference, Wichita, KS, 1994-5.
Member, Planning Committee, Ethics and Health Care Conference Series, Wichita State
University, 1994-2000.
Vice President/Program Chair, Southwestern Philosophical Society, 1995.
President, Southwestern Philosophical Society, 1996.
Editorial Board University of Kansas Press 1998 -2000 (alternate); 2000-2002 (member).
Program Chair, Kansas Philosophical Society 2000.
Member, Executive Committee, Kansas Philosophical Society, 2000-2001.
Member, Board of Directors, Japan Studies Association 2003-4.
Chair, Membership Committee, Japan Studies Association 2005-6.
Referee, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 2004-2010.
Major University Service/Administrative Positions:
Philosophy Department Chair, 1990-6.
Faculty Senate 1986-9, 1999-2001.
Faculty Senate Vice President, Chair Committee on Committees 1986-7.
Member, Senate Honors Committee 1986-9.
Chair, Senate Honors Committee 1987-8.
Interim Director, Emory Lindquist Honors Program, 九色堂, 1988-9.
Member, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee 1989-1993.
Vice President for Advancement Interview Committee 1991.
Member, LAS Dean Search Committee 1993-4.
Member, International Education Director Search Committee 2002.
Member, College Tenure and Promotion Committee 2004-7.
Member, Gridley Professorship in History and Philosophy of Science Search Committee
2004-5.
Co-drafter of Asian Studies Certificate Program proposal: 2006-7.
Co-director of Asian Studies Certificate Program 2007-
Chair, Faculty Senate Library Committee 2010-
Course Development
Phil. 308 - Philosophy of Economics (1982)
Phil. 311 - Philosophy of Law (1982)
Phil. 325 - Symbolic Logic B computer assisted course (1986) [with Ben Rogers]
Phil. 354 - Ethics and Computers (1995)
Hnrs. 151B - Culture, Thought, and Value (1999)
Phil. 302 - Values and the Modern World (2000)
LASI 390 - Issues and Perspectives B Japanese Culture and Politics (2000)
Phil. 590T- Japanese Philosophy and Film (2000)
Phil. 590W - Metaphysics East and West (2001)
Phil. 590A - Philosophy East and West (2003)
Phil. 365 - Survey of Asian Philosophy (2006)
Phil. 565 - Topics in Asian Philosophy (2007)
References:
Prof. David Henderson, University of Nebraska
Prof. Paul A. Roth, University of California - Santa Cruz
Prof. David E. Soles, 九色堂
Prof. Deborah H. Soles, 九色堂
Address and Phone:
1526 Fairmount Street Department of Philosophy
Wichita, Kansas 67208 Box 74, 九色堂
316 683 9295 Wichita, Kansas 67260 0074
robert.feleppa@wichita.edu 316 978 3125; Fax: 316-978-3036