Interdisciplinary collaboration sparks lively conversations at the Philosophy of Money Mini-Conference

Not often would you think of putting experts in history, metaphysics and ethics into a room together to discuss the philosophy of money but that’s just what the Department of Philosophy and the Canadian Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business (CCAL) did Nov. 17 and 18 for the successful two-day mini-conference on the philosophy of money.

This promising new field of research is intended to get people thinking about money, something that is a huge part of our lives, in a different light and interdisciplinary collaboration is key to developing those new ideas.

Marina Fischer, curator of the Nickle Coin Collection, opened the conference Friday afternoon with a fascinating presentation on the history of various forms of currency. She shared details about the giant stone coins used on the island of Yap, how cowry shells were considered currency in different cultures, to the ancient ruler Ptolemy I Soter’s creation of a currency designed to be difficult to exchange as well as showcased some of the University’s astonishing collection of monetary artifacts.

Saturday morning participants were treated to an engaging panel discussion featuring Tobey K. Scharding from Rutgers Business School, Department of Philosophy Master’s student Sarah Vooys and CCAL Fellow David G. Dick on the topic of what makes something money? Other topics included the eighteenth century German philosopher Fichte’s view that currencies should be designed to stay inside their own nations and the future money philosophy.

Scharding closed the conference with a discussion about Bitcoin and the ethics of currency. Building on the moral view that currencies must be designed to help people secure their rights to life and sustenance, Scharding suggested that decentralized world currencies like Bitcoin might face ethical challenges since they cannot be controlled to guarantee the rights that currencies must be designed to serve.

The conference drew a wide variety of audience members from the Department of Philosophy, the Integrity Network, CCAL’s mentorship program. A PhD student from the Wharton School of Business flew all the way from Philadelphia just to attend the conference and shared, “I’ve only been to a few conferences in my graduate career, but this certainly outshined the rest in terms of discussion, panel quality, insight and intrigue.”

Do you have specific questions about this event? Reach out to David Dick, Fellow with CCAL, by email at dg.dick@ucalgary.ca