William Alston Lecture Series

The Alston Lecture Series, held in honor in William Alston’s life and work, will take place on September 13, 2024 from 3-5 p.m. in Hall of Languages 107.

William Alston was a treasured member of the Syracuse University Philosophy faculty for thirty years, from his appointment in 1979 until his death in 2009 at the age of 87. Although Professor Alston officially retired in 1992, he continued to teach and write for a number of years thereafter through a series of post-retirement appointments, and was always available to students and colleagues. His work set new standards of achievements in epistemology, philosophy of language, and philosophy of religion.

This year’s Alston Lecture will be delivered by Susanna Siegel (Harvard), who will deliver a talk entitled “Wandering Inquiry.”

Abstract

Inquiry is guided, in the minimal sense that it is not haphazard. It is also often thought to have as a natural stopping point ceasing to inquire, once inquiry into a question yields knowledge of an answer. On this picture, inquiry is both telic and guided. By contrast, mind-wandering is unguided and atelic, according to the most extensively developed philosophical theory of it. This paper articulates a puzzle that arises from this combination of claims: there seem to be plenty of examples of inquiry progressing within mind-wandering, yet theories of inquiry and mind-wandering can make wandering inquiry seem impossible or incoherent. I offer several solutions to this puzzle and make the case that taken together, they illuminate a prevalent form of inquiry that the burgeoning literature on that topic overlooks, to its detriment: “low” inquiry – inquiry that progresses spontaneously, without executive control.