APA Centennial

Information and Events Across the Country

In 2001 we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the American Philosophical Association. The Board of Officers of the APA believes that instead of celebrating the APA, we should celebrate the power of philosophy in the lives of individuals and societies. Accordingly, it appointed a committee to plan activities to raise the visibility of philosophy in our communities and to call attention to the important contributions it can make. The most effective celebrations are likely to be those organized in each community by the philosophers at local colleges and universities. Since the continued welfare of philosophy is closely tied to public perceptions of its intrinsic value and its usefulness, we help ourselves and the field we love by demonstrating what it can contribute to individual flourishing and the solution of social problems. We would like to make 2001 the year in which philosophy regains the voice it once had and should never lose in the lives of people.

John Lachs, Chair
Centennial Committee of the American Philosophical Association

For more information:

APA Centennial Announcements

Philosophy Website: The Society for Philosophical Inquiry
In the works - Dr. Frederic R. Kellog
Philosophy Website: Health and Everything website
Two books from APA member, James H. Fetzer Ph. D: Assassination Science : Experts Speak Out on the Death of JFK and Murder in Dealey Plaza: What We Know Now that We Didn't Know Then
Both books apply philosophical analysis to an issue of public interest, namely: the assassination of JFK.

To have your activity included in the list below, please send all relevant information via e-mail to apaOnline@udel.edu.

APA Centennial Announcements

Philosophy Website - The Society for Philosophical Inquiry (http://www.philosopher.org/)

The Society for Philosophical Inquiry (SPI) is a grassroots nonprofit organization with federal 501 (c) (3) nonprofit status. SPI is comprised of philosophical inquirers of all ages and walks of life. Its members strive to form across the globe communities of philosophical inquiry", which we typically call Socrates Café, at places like coffee houses, libraries, hospices, senior centers, nursing homes, prison, plazas and other public spaces, bookstores, homeless shelters and community centers, and at schools, where we typically call our gatherings The Philosophers' Club. SPI's diverse members are devoted to resuscitating the once time-honored art and skill of Socratic philosophical inquiry.

In the works - Dr. Frederic R. Kellog

APA member Dr. Frederic R. Kellog is working on a book titled Justice Holmes and the Philosophy of Judicial Restraint. The book demonstrates how legal philosophy matters, especially in constitutional law.

Dr. Kellog will be presenting a paper at the Eastern Division meeting that presents the issues in a condensed format: "The Construction of
Legal Positivism and the Myth of Legal Indeterminacy."

Philosophy Website: Health and Everything website (http://www.healthandeverything.org/)

Sholom Glouberman is the Philosopher in Residence at the Baycrest Centre in Toronto. He is a member of the APA and has applied philosophical
methods to thinking about health care. His recent work on concepts of health is available on the web site.

Sholom Glouberman
Philosopher in Residence KLARU
Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care
3560 Bathurst St
Toronto ON M6A 2E1
CANADA Tel 416 785 2500 ext 2150
Fax 416 785 4230
Web Site: http://www.healthandeverything.org/
NOTE NEW Email address: sholom@glouberman.com

Two books from APA member, James H. Fetzer Ph. D: Assassination Science : Experts Speak Out on the Death of JFK and Murder in Dealey Plaza: What We Know Now that We Didn't Know Then
Both books apply philosophical analysis to an issue of public interest, namely: the assassination of JFK.

Assassination Science : Experts Speak Out on the Death of JFK

Murder in Dealey Plaza: What We Know Now that We Didn't Know Then

James H. Fetzer, ed., ASSASSINATION SCIENCE: EXPERTS SPEAK OUT ON THE DEATH OF JFK (Chicago, IL: Catfeet Press/Open Court, 1998), xvi + 464 pp. Hardback and paperback. Currently in 5th printing.

A collaborative effort by highly qualified scientists, physicians, and scholars aimed at placing the study of the assassination of the 35th President of the United States on an objective and scientific foundation. A Ph.D. in physics who is an M.D. and board-certified in radiation oncology establishes that certain autopsy X-rays have been fabricated to conceal a massive blow-out to the back of the head (caused by a shot from in front) and others have been altered by adding a 6.5mm metallic object (in an evident effort to implicate a 6.5mm weapon). A world authority on the human brain who is also an expert on wound ballistics concludes that the brain shown in dia- grams and photographs in the National Archives (the brain itself is long missing) cannot be the brain of JFK. A physician who attended the dying President and two days later his accused assassin supplies diagrams of the wounds as they appeared at Parkland Hospital (a small entry wound to the throat, a massive gaping wound to the back of the head). Others contribute studies questioning the authenticity of the Zapruder home movie of the assassination, which appears to have been extensively edited using sophisticated techniques (including removal of whole frames, sequences of frames, and alteration within frames). Emphasis throughout on critical thinking and matters of methodology, with attention to the role of inference to the best explanation. A leading critic of THE WARREN REPORT, Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D., Past President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, says these studies "unquestionably" shift the burden of proof in this case.

James H. Fetzer, ed., MURDER IN DEALEY PLAZA: WHAT WE KNOW NOW THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW THEN ABOUT THE DEATH OF JFK (Chicago, IL: Catfeet Press/Open Court, 2000), xii + 468 pp. + 16-page color photo section. Paperback only. Currently in 4th printing.

The surge of interest in the assassination of President Kennedy that resulted from Oliver Stone's "JFK" led to the creation of a 5-member civilian Assassination Records Review Board entrusted with authority to declassify records related to his assassination. This book finds support for the existence of a large-scale conspiracy and meticulous cover-up in the 60,000 documents and records released by the board. It begins with a Prologue elaborating 16 "smoking guns" that display the untenability of the government's position, followed by a 100-page chronology of events in Dealey Plaza that day, studies of the conduct of the Secret Service, the destruction of the Presidential limousine, analyses of the medical evidence, including a careful dissection of the exact way in which the cover-up was carried out (reshooting the autospsy photographs, for example), ARRB studies of the examination of two brains, the Zapruder film's presence at the National Photo Interpretation Center run by the CIA the weekend of the murder, and new studies of evidence of alteration of the film itself. Includes an early essay by Bertrand Russell. Emphasis again is placed on key methodological issues, especially the application of Occam's Razor. Michael Kurtz, an historian who has published his own book on this case, observes of this collection that anyone who reads it "will be appalled by the systematic distortion of the truth--that JFK died as the result of a conspiracy--by certain officials of the US government".

Both books available at Amazon.com and other book retailers.