Misson and Goals

 

The general mission of the INPC is to provide a forum for public discussion of classically philosophical topics. Our conference is intended to help facilitate research on such topics, to illustrate to non-philosophers the importance and pervasiveness of philosophy in our daily lives, and to help improve the intellectual atmosphere of the Moscow/Pullman community. We consider the project to be a bridge between the academy and the non-academic community and as such it is vital to our mission and goals.

 

The general goal of the INPC is to encourage philosophical interaction on a variety of different levels between philosophers and non-philosophers, teachers and students, academics and lay-persons. One goal is to generate interdisciplinary involvement in the conference. Such involvement benefits all involved. First, it exposes those from outside the humanities to research methodologies that have proved very successful within philosophy and other humanistic disciplines. Second, it enables researchers within the humanities to learn of ideas and strategies that are used by those who are working on issues related to the conference theme outside the humanities.

 

Another goal is to introduce non-philosophers (both academics and non-academics) to the particular methodologies utilized by philosophers. It is hoped that this will give everyone a broader understanding of what philosophy is, why it is important, and how philosophy and the humanities in general can be of value in their lives. A final goal of the project is to strengthen the connections between the academic and non-academic communities in the Pullman/Moscow area.

 

The public forum is an important part of the conference since it allows us to create links between both philosophy and the other humanities as well as the academic and non-academic communities. It is designed with the non-academic community in mind, and those who lack the technical vocabulary will nonetheless be able to attend this event and appreciate the importance of research related to time and identity. We anticipate that the benefits of this event will also run in the other direction, as questions from the non-academic community often offer substantial challenges to researchers.