Minutes of the
Annual Business Meeting
of the Hume Society
9 August 2002
The meeting was called to order at
18:08 by Saul Traiger,
President of the Hume Society. Secretary-Treasurer, Mikael M. Karlsson, announced the agenda:
1. Approval of the minutes of the 2001 business
meeting.
2. Report of the President
3. Report of the Secretary-Treasurer
4. Report of Hume Studies
5. New business
Under item 1, approval of the 2001 minutes (which
were posted on the Society's website shortly after the
Victoria conference) was moved, seconded, and ratified by the
members present.
Under item 2,
Saul Traiger reported on the following items:
(a) The Executive Committee has been meeting
virtually, using e-mail, as provided for by the constitutional revisions made
at the end of 2001 (authorizing the actual practice of recent years). The EC
has been active in addressing various issues, among them those mentioned later
on in this report.
(b) The EC has been fine-tuning the Society's
policies for supporting graduate students who have papers accepted for
presentations at Hume Conferences through the process of blind review.
(c) The EC has adopted a formal advertising policy,
which is posted on the Society's website <http://www.humesociety.org/about/advertising-policy.html>.
(d) Hume Conferences have been planned through 2005:
The
30th Hume Conference, with the title "Probability, Chance and
Judgment", will be held in
Las Vegas, Nevada, July 29th-August 2nd, 2003, hosted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The Conference Directors are Craig Walton, Phil Cummins and Michel Malherbe. A conference webpage is accessible through the
Society's website.
The
31st Hume Conference, with the title "Industry, Knowledge and
Humanity" will be held in
Tokyo, Japan, August 2nd-7th, 2004, hosted by Keio University.
The Conference Directors are
Masaki Ichinose,
Tatsuya Sakamoto, Francis W. Dauer and
Saul Traiger. Saul gave the floor to
Tatsuya
Sakamoto, of Keio University, who warmly encouraged members to participate,
explaining that the organizers were aware of the concern of members about
expenses and were making arrangements with this in mind. He emphasized that
Tokyo is actually less expensive for tourists than
London or New York, especially if people take account of, and conform
to, local conditions. He also affirmed that well-planned air travel to Japan can be quite reasonably priced.
The
32nd Hume Conference, with the title "Hume and the French" will be
held in Toronto, Ontario 24-27 July 2005. The organizers are Don Ainsley, David Owen and
Stanley Tweyman.
Koblenz (Germany) and Ioannini (Greece) are under discussion as the site for the 2006 Hume
Conference.
(e)
Mikael M. Karlsson's term as Secretary-Treasurer will end at the close of
2002, and the Executive Committee is engaged in a search for a new
Secretary-Treasurer. The Secretary-Treasurer is appointed for a term of five
years (renewable) by the EC. Saul emphasized that suggestions for candidates
were welcome.
(f) The constitutional revisions effected at the end
of 2001 make it possible to move to electronic balloting for EC elections and
other matters to be voted on by the membership. The EC is currently planning a
move to electronic balloting for the year-end EC elections.
(g) The information and services provided by the Hume
Society are increasingly web-based. To make use of the services provided by the
Society, members need to register through the Society's website for a username
and password. Saul urged those members who have not done so to register soon. A
mail campaign to encourage registration will be undertaken in September.
Under item 3,
Mikael M. Karlsson gave a financial report and a report from the
Secretariat. He explained that the paper loss in US$ reflected in the figures
reported in 2001, which was due to the deterioration of the Icelandic krσna (ISK) relative to the US$,
had subsequently been made up by a corresponding rise in the relative value of
the ISK. The year-end balance sheet
for 2001 shows that the assets of the Hume Society, expressed in US$, amounted
to $ 29,560.78 as of 31 December 2001. The interim
balance sheet covering the first half of 2002 shows that the assets of the Hume
Society, expressed in US$, amounted to $ 41,617.31 as of 30 June 2002.
The year-end figures are always lower, as they reflect payments made for
graduate-student support, support for Hume Studies, and late-year mailings;
but, in addition, the 2002 mid-year figure also heavily reflects the rise in
the ISK in the first half of the year. [The itemized
balance sheets are posted separately on the Society's website.]
The report from the Secretariat comprised the
following items:
(a) The
most significant item from the Secretariat was the membership's approval of the
revision of the Constitution of the Hume Society, which clarifies eligibility
for office and recognizes the changes implied by the use of electronic media for
communication, distribution of information and voting.
(b) The dues increase
approved last year has increased the assets of the Society, making it better
prepared to support Hume Studies and
to provide new and better services to the membership.
(c) Work on realizing
last year's mandate from the membership to establish a "permanent business
office" for the Society has continued and further proposals in this
direction will be made to the EC. The Society's web site may be understood as a
central element in the "business office".
(d) The Society's web
site <www.humesociety.org> is continually up-dated and contains various
innovations and improvements. Members were urged to access the website
regularly, and every member should have a username and password allowing access
the members' area.
(e) As retiring
Secretary-Treasurer, Mike said that he was honored to have served the Society
in this capacity and wished the new Secretary-Treasurer the best of luck in
this important office. He thanked the membership, the three Presidents with
whom he has worked, and the various members of the Executive Committee for
their cooperation and support during his term of office.
[The full report from the
Secretariat is posted separately on the Society's website.]
Mike reminded members
informally that an EC election will be held in November and that nominations to
the EC were welcome. A call for nominations will go out in early September.
Three members must be elected to three-year terms. The EC members whose current
terms will expire at the end of 2002 are
Kate Abramson, Rachel Cohon and Simon
Blackburn; of these three, Kate and Rachel are eligible for re-election.
Under item 4, Ken Winkler
reported that Hume Studies was in
healthy shape financially, and that the editors were working hard to get the
journal back on schedule. This should be accomplished by the end of 2003. Ken
urged members to contribute to the journal. Under this item, there was also
some discussion from the floor of the possibilities for putting Hume Studies on line.
Saul Traiger reported that he was working on having all back
issues of Hume Studies scanned, and that older back issues, at least, could be made publicly
available, in searchable form, on the website. It was suggested that members
might also have access to electronic versions of recent issues as an advantage
of membership. Policy on these matters has yet to be formed by the EC and the
Editors of Hume Studies.
Under item 5, Dorothy Coleman proposed two resolutions,
both of which were unanimously approved by the members present:
Resolution 1:
Whereas the Hume Society has convened its 29th Annual
Hume Conference in Helsinki, Finland, August 6 - 10, 2002, therefore
Be it resolved that the Society extends its thanks
to the University of Helsinki for its gracious hospitality a the host
institution, and to the organizing team of the Department of Social and Moral
Philosophy: Nicholas Barlow, Karolina Kokko-Uusitalo, Tomi Kokkonen, Marjukka Laakso, Juhana Lemetti,
Arto Siitonen and Teemu Toppinen, and to the
Academy of Finland and the Finnish Philosophical Society for their superb local
arrangements for the conference; also
Be it resolved that the Society expresses its
appreciation to the conference directors,
Wade Robison, Olli Loukola, Timo Airaksinen, and
Mikael M. Karlsson for their untiring efforts in preparing the
conference program; then finally
Be it resolved that copies of this resolution be
sent to the appropriate administrators of the
University of Helsinki, the Department of Social and Moral Philosophy, the
Academy of Finland, the Finnish Philosophical Society, and the home institutions of the
conference directors.
Resolution 2:
Whereas
Mikael M. Karlsson will be retiring as Secretary-Treasurer of the Hume
at the end of 2002, after a five-year term, therefore
Be it resolved, that the Society expresses its
gratitude to Mike for his untiring, not to mention financially unrewarding,
work for the Society these past years as the Executive Secretary-Treasurer of
the Society and to the University of
Iceland for generously supporting Mikael in carrying out the
duties of this office.
Be it resolved that copies of this resolution be
sent to the appropriate administrators of the
University of Iceland.
There being no further business, the meeting was
adjourned by Saul
Traiger at 19:06.
Respectfully submitted,
Mikael M. Karlsson
Secretary-Treasurer