Category Archives: visiting speakers

Vanished Voices Lecture Series 23-24

Vanished Voices Lecture Series

Modern Scholars Give Platform to Historically Marginalized Philosophers

Africana Philosophy with Dr. Dwight K. Lewis, Jr.

Dr. Dwight K. Lewis, Jr. giving a talk at CofC. Photo Credit Priscilla Thomas.

The Department of Philosophy and German hosted the first Vanished Voices Lecture Series talk in October. Thanks to a grant from the German Embassy, we were able to invite Dr. Dwight K. Lewis, Jr. (University of Minnesota—Twin Cities) to give a lecture titled “Black in Germany: Anton Wilhelm Amo.”

The lecture abstract: Anton Wilhelm Amo (c. 1700 – c. 1750), the first West African to obtain an advanced degree at a European university – graduated from the University of Wittenberg (1734) in Germany, then lectured on natural philosophy at three German universities and published three philosophical texts. Because of this lived experience, Amo exists as a provocation to our central reality and the history of philosophy. In this talk, I elaborate on this provocation through Amo’s life, philosophy, and current position in global activism, e.g., the renaming of Mohrenstraße to Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Straße.

Image of Anton Wilhelm Amo

Professor Dwight K. Lewis, Jr.’s research and teaching focus on the history of early modern philosophy, philosophy of race, and Africana philosophy, with a focus on the philosophy of Anton Wilhelm Amo (c. 1700-c. 1750). You can learn more about Professor Lewis and his research on Amo from this interview with Eidolon, or check out his podcast Larger, Freer, More Loving.

Happiness, Passions, and Character with Dr. Marcy Lascano

Portrait by Maurice Quentin de La Tour

In April, the department hosted Dr. Marcy Lascano (University of Kansas) for the second talk of the 23-24 Vanished Voices Lecture Series.

The lecture abstract: This talk will address these two essential aspects of Du Châtelet’s Discourse on Happiness. First, what is Du Châtelet’s account of happiness? The first pages of the Discourse lead one in different directions concerning her theory of the nature of happiness. I will argue that an analysis of the text provides evidence for ultimately interpreting her account as a version of hedonism rather than a desire-based or a pluralist account of happiness. While her view is hedonistic, it will be shown that her emphasis on passions as uniquely capable of sustaining long-term pleasure is unique. This emphasis makes her version of hedonism more psychologically nuanced than more typical versions of the view.

The second aspect of her account concerns what Du Châtelet calls the “great machines of happiness.” Du Châtelet lists five things related to happiness: freedom from prejudice, health, virtue, having tastes and passions, and being susceptible to illusions. Here, it will be argued that Du Châtelet’s great machines of happiness are best understood as the features of a person’s physical or psychological constitution or orientation toward the world that enable her to achieve happiness.

Thanks to the Vanished Voices Lecture Series Fund, the department can support these guest speakers presenting for the benefit of students and the community. Please reach out if you would like to learn more about how you can help support the Vanished Voices Lecture Series’s mission.

Faculty Present Research at PhilosoFest

On JanuaTiberiusry 16th -17th, the department hosted our first “PhilosoFest” – a mini-conference to present faculty research to the College community. Valerie Tiberius (University of Minnesota, pictured) gave a keynote lecture entitled “Well-Being, Virtues, and Personal Projects.” The two-day conference included lectures by six College faculty and lots of philosophical discussion!

“Students usually see professors as teachers” notes department chair, Todd Grantham. “This conference gave them a chance to see their professors as researchers, too.” Throughout the weekend, there were many opportunities for students, faculty, and the keynote speaker to discuss philosophy over meals and between sessions. Six faculty presented their research:

• Jennifer Baker, “White Privilege and Virtue”
• Christian Coseru, “Reflexive Sensibility: The Bedrock of Consciousness”
• Daniela Goya-Tocchetto & Thomas Nadelhoffer, “The Lottery of Life and Moral Desert: An Interdisciplinary Investigation”
• Ned Hettinger, “Prospects for Aesthetic Protectionism”
• Glenn Lesses, “Socrates the Stoic: Agency and Rational eros in the Symposium”
• Rachel McKinnon, “Troll or Truth: On the Norms of Anonymous Assertions”

Our second “PhilosoFest” (October 9th-10th) will include presentations by professors Boyle, Grantham, Hough, Krasnoff, Neufeld, and Nunan, with keynote lectures from Susan Wolf and Kristi Dotson. Alumni are welcome to join us for PhilosoFest 2!

Prof. Sally Haslanger giving a talk “Narrative and Social Justice” Thursday, 3/19/15 at 6:30pm in Alumni Memorial Hall

Prof. Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy & Womens and Gender Studies at MIT will be presenting her talk Narrative and Social Justice on Thursday, 3/19/15 at 6:30pm in Alumni Memorial Hall of Randolph Hall.

Narrative and Social Justice – Recent work on social injustice has focused on implicit bias as an important factor in explaining persistent injustice in spite of achievements on civil rights.  In this paper, I argue that implicit bias offers a familiar sort of individualistic narrative to explain injustice, but taken alone, it is inadequate.  Most importantly, such narratives miss what is morally at stake.  An adequate account of how implicit bias functions must situate it within a broader theory of social structures; changing structures is often a precondition for changing patterns of thought and action and is certainly required for durable change.  So we must learn to develop different sorts of narratives that address not only the question, “What can/should I do?” but also “What can/should we do?”

Haslanger Flyer

 

Dirty Politics: The Role of Disgust in Political and Moral Judgment

In recent years a great deal of psychological research has highlighted the powerful role emotions play in shaping our attitudes and judgments. Evidence has been found that individuals who are more easily disgusted in everyday life tend to have different moral and political views than those who are less easily disgusted. This research helps shed light on how basic differences in emotion can give rise to differences in our judgement about the social world that surrounds us.

Monday April 7, 2014 6:00 PM Wells Fargo Auditorium (Beatty Center)

Pizarro Lecture

“Covers as Social Commentary: Dylan, The Monkees, and Tiffany” by Theodore Gracyk

Please join the First-Year Experience, Philosophy, and Music Departments at a lecture, “Covers as Social Commentary: Dylan, The Monkees, and Tiffany” by Theodore Gracyk on Friday, November 2nd at 3:15pm in Tate 202. Theodore Gracyk is a philosopher of music and culture at Minnesota State University, Moorhead, author of several books including Rhythm and Noise: An Aesthetics of Rock (1996); I Wanna Be Me: Rock Music and the Politics of Identity (2001); Listening to Popular Music (2007); and On Music (forthcoming).

Flyer

Aesthetics in Participatory, Socially Engaged Art

The Philosophy Department and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences present

“Aesthetics in Participatory, Socially Engaged Art”
Michael Kelly, Professor of Philosophy, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Contemporary art is increasingly participatory and socially engaged. What are the aspirations, operations, and effects of such art? What are its predecessors? How has aesthetics been an explicit partner in the development of participatory art when, by contrast, so much art since the 1960s has been committed to an anti-aesthetic stance? Is art still tied to aesthetics as it becomes ever more socially engaged?

Thursday, April 12, 3:15PM
Tate Center 202,
Reception to follow

For further information contact Professor Jonathan Neufeld, Department of Philosophy: neufeldja@cofc.edu