Prizes and Awards

Annual Patrick Romanell Lecture on Philosophical Naturalism

Patrick Romanell Lecture on Philosophical Naturalism

Summary

The Patrick Romanell Lecture is presented annually at a Divisional meeting of the APA on the topic of philosophical naturalism.

Process: The Romanell Lecturer is selected by a committee appointed by the Chair of the APA's Committee on Lectures, Publications, and Research, in consultation with LPR committee members. The Committee includes one representative from each of the three divisions.

Frequency: Every year, but occasionally years are skipped due to the rotation of the lecture among the three divisional meetings.

Award Amount: $1,200, to be paid upon delivery of the manuscript of the lecture to the APA National Office for publication in the Proceedings and Addresses, plus travel costs not to exceed $750.

Last Award: The Ninth Romanell Lecture will be given by Dr. Elliott Sober at the 2008 Eastern Division meeting in Philadelphia, PA.

Next Award: 2009

Background

The annual "Patrick Romanell Lecture on Philosophical Naturalism" was established in 1981. It was generously endowed by Dr. Patrick Romanell, who died in 2002. To learn more about Dr. Romanell's life and work, click here.

In 1981, when the lecture was being established, Professor Romanell characterized "Philosophical Naturalism" in the following way:

Typically, naturalism as a philosophy may be discussed for critical purposes from four significant angles, taken separately and/or jointly. First, as the oldest tradition in Western philosophy (from Thales to contemporary American naturalism), the topic may be treated from an historical angle. Secondly, as a particular philosophical position, it may be treated from a systematic angle, including its peculiar temper and method, its basic categories, its characteristic concepts of nature and man, and its general bearings on such areas of human interest as science, economics, politics, art, morality, religion. Thirdly, the subject may be treated from a comparative angle (e.g., naturalism and materialism, naturalism and idealism, naturalism and positivism). Fourthly and finally, the topic may be treated from an individual angle (e.g., the naturalism of Aristotle, Spinosa, John Dewey).

In a letter dated October 5, 1990 to then Chair of the Board of Officers, Robert Turnbull, Professor Romanell emphasized that "the specified topic of the Romanell Lectureship is philosophical naturalism in general, not its American varieties in particular." He referred to this as the "unrestricted scope of the topic of the Romanell Lecture on Philosophical Naturalism."

News and Announcements:
Alexander Rosenberg Wins Romanell-Phi Beta Kappa Professorship In Philosophy

Previous/current awardees:

2007-2008 Elliott Sober, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Eastern 2008)

2006-2007 Louis Loeb, University of Michigan (Pacific 2007)
2005-2006 Steven Gaukroger (Central 2006)
2004-2005 Philip Kitcher (Eastern 2004) "The Hall of Mirrors"
2003-04 Jerry Fodor (Pacific 2004) "Context"
2002-03 Frank Jackson "Narrow Content and Representationalism" (Central 2003)
2002 [No award because of timing of rotation of lectures among the different divisional meetings]
2001-02 Penelope Maddy "A Naturalistic Look at Logic" (Eastern 2001)
2000 Allan Gibbard "Living with Meanings: A Human Ecology" (Pacific)
1999 David A. Armstrong "A Naturalist Program: Epistemology and Ontology" (Central)
1997 Ruth Garrett Millikan "How We Make Our Ideas Clear: Empiricist Epistemology for Empirical Concepts" (Eastern)
1996 Susan Haack "As for that Phrase, 'Studying in a Literary Spirit'..." (Central)
1995 Richard J. Bernstein "What Ever Happened to Naturalism?" (Pacific)
1993 John J. McDermott "Ill-at-ease: The Natural Travail of Ontological Disconnectedness" (Eastern)
1992 Peter T. Manicas "Nature and Culture" (Pacific)
1991 Thelma Lavine "Modernity and the Spirit of Naturalism" (Central)
1989 John Lachs "Human Natures" (Eastern)
1989 Philippa Foot (Pacific)
1988 Edmund L. Pincoffs "The Practices of Responsibility-Ascription"(Central)
1986 Abraham Edel "Naturalism and the Concept of Moral Change" (Eastern)