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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.

Aesthetics WorkGroup 23-24

Stoic Musical Impressions the Aliens with Ears May Hear

The Aesthetics WorkGroup (AWG) is an interdisciplinary group of professors and students who meet periodically to discuss theoretical works about and in the arts. The work is often works in progress by members of AWG, but we also read current articles and books that are relevant to the interests of the group. AWG also co-sponsors visits by distinguished scholars from other institutions. Topics in the past have included participatory art (visiting faculty), aesthetic disobedience (faculty), the politics of form in Tibetan poetry (student), the “suburban sublime” in the art of Lisa Sanditz (faculty), cover records as social commentary (visiting faculty), metaphor and metaphysics in Zhuangzi (student), ethical and emotional expression in music (faculty), social ontology and art (student), affects and interpretation in performance (faculty), environmental aesthetics (visiting faculty), and the transgender gaze in film (faculty). AWG is led by the Department of Philosophy chair, Jonathan Neufeld, and is regularly attended by students and faculty from German, English, Religious Studies, Music, Art, Art History, Political Science, and Psychology.

Stoic and Neostoic Musical Impressions with Dr. Melinda Latour

Dr. Melinda Latour giving a talk at CofC. Photo credit Priscilla Thomas.

In September 2023, AWG welcomed Dr. Melinda Latour (Tufts University) for her guest lecture, “Musical Impressions: The Uses of Beauty in Stoic & Neostoic Therapy.” The lecture’s abstract: The use of musical sound as a remedy for physical and mental suffering was a through-line in the European cultural tradition–––offering miraculous and mundane treatments for everything from lovesickness to widespread civil discord. The most influential source of these views was the Pythagorean/Platonic lineage. However, a related therapy tradition with clear musical applications gained traction with the revival of Stoicism between the 1580s and the 1630s in French lands fractured by the Wars of Religion. The composer Paschal de L’Estocart offered early musico-poetic examples of this fascinating Stoic resurgence, for his music collections published in 1582 feature richly illustrated musical and visual settings of Stoic and Neostoic texts. The laudatory poetry and other liminal materials prefacing these prints offer insights into how these musical settings modeled an aesthetically-driven mode of therapy for moderating destructive emotions and restoring harmony in the individual soul and the state.

The Discovery of Voyager with Dr. Dan Sharp

In the spring, AWG hosted Dr. Dan Sharp (Tulane University) to discuss a work in progress entitled “Playfully Imagining Alien Ears in The Discovery of Voyager: A Performance in a New Orleans Sonic Sculpture Garden.”

The abstract read: Over the course of an evening in 2017, a group of over thirty musicians interpreted the tracks that NASA engraved onto the Golden Record, an interstellar mixtape launched into space on two NASA Voyager probes forty years earlier in 1977. The performance, titled The Discovery of Voyager, was more than just a straightforward concert of the music on the record. Instead, it was an ingenious, speculative performance imagining a scenario in which the record crash landed on another planet, and its inhabitants listened to it for the first time.

Alongside the musicians, dancers exuberantly portrayed the inhabitants hearing earth’s music for the first time, revealing the hubris (or, from another angle, the poignant optimism) of imagining direct communication with another world. The disc had been flung out into space in a gesture of intergalactic goodwill that blithely assumed that its extraterrestrial listeners would have ears. Not only would they have ears, but they would also hear the same frequencies most humans can. The Discovery of Voyager considers questions like those that cultural theorist of science Donna Haraway asked while walking her dogs and wondering how beings with different structured senses take in their worlds so differently.

Thanks to the Aesthetics WorkGroup Fund, the department can support these guest speakers presenting for the benefit of students and the community. Please reach out if you’re a philosophy student interested in the Aesthetics WorkGroup or would like to learn more about how you, can help support AWG’s mission.

Philosophy Student Opportunities Fund

Biomedical Ethics Students Present at SC Medical Association’s Ethics Retreat

This spring, Virginia Donaghy ‘24 and Molly Dickerson ‘24, students in Professor Jennifer Baker’s Biomedical Ethics class, received grants from the Philosophy Student Opportunities Fund to present their research at the annual South Carolina Medical Association’s Ethics Retreat held in February.

Donaghy’s project, “Mercy vs. Murder,” focused on the ethics behind Dr. Anna Pou’s decisions at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina that led her to euthanize patients in September 2005. After presenting, Donaghy and committee members exchanged a spectrum of views on whether Dr. Pou’s actions were ethical. Donaghy’s takeaway from the ethics retreat is, “It was an interesting experience that enlightened me to how different generations view different things in the past. For example, I view what happened at Memorial as the lesser of two evils, whereas several people at the committee meeting viewed it as something that should not have happened, even considering the circumstances that all of the employees of Memorial were under.”

Molly Dickerson ’24. Photo credit Reese Moore.

Dickerson’s project, “Guilty of Being Sick, Consult or Interrogation: a Bioethics Argument for Trauma-Informed Care and Commitment to Being a Lifelong Medical Learner,” argues that “…chronic illness should be recognized as a form of trauma, advocating for the implementation of trauma-informed care and the need for [health care providers] to commit to being a lifelong medical learner.” Reflecting on her experience, Dickerson says, “Professionals in the field seemed interested in considering chronic illness as a trauma and also provided insightful suggestions. They encouraged me to continue with my research interests.” She said, “Meeting individuals passionate about bioethics and healthcare from South Carolina or just living here now, was inspiring to me and my sense that some of these public health issues can be addressed.”

Dickerson’s dedication to this topic continues in The Sick Gaze, a newly launched podcast she co-produces and hosts. Part of the podcast’s mission states, “In a world where stories are often filtered through able-bodied perspectives, our podcast strives to bring visibility to invisible conditions.”

Thanks to the Philosophy Student Opportunities Fund, the department can support students who are doing great work. Please reach out if you’re a philosophy student interested in applying or would like to learn more about how you, too, can help support students needing financial support for research, projects, or experiential learning opportunities.

Teacher Apprenticeships

A Unique Experiential Learning Opportunity for Majors

Oliver Wlasiuk ‘24 (he/him).

The Department of Philosophy is proud to offer our students various experiential learning opportunities (ELOs). In the fall, three students participated in our teaching apprenticeships (TAs) ELO option. This ELO allows students to participate in college teaching by working closely with professors as they develop and teach their classes. The TAs’s experiences vary depending on the class. They might be able to help build syllabi, mentor students in and out of the classroom, lead review sessions, review drafts of papers, and more.

Students Anna Albright ‘24, Isabella Pack ‘24, and Oliver Wlasiuk ‘24 pursued TA positions with Professor Jennifer Baker. The TA position is customizable for students. Wlasiuk summaries his TA experience, “My TA duties included holding occasional review sessions throughout the semester that Dr. Baker and I scheduled, showing up to class, (re)reading all the material, making sure I understand everything at a sufficient level, and weekly meetings with Dr. Baker and the other TAs; Anna and Bella. My favorite part about being a TA was the review sessions because I like helping people understand philosophy, and, maybe more importantly, I gained a deeper understanding of all the material and the language of philosophy as a whole.” This unique immersive learning provided Wlasiuk with a deeper level of comprehension and allowed him to tutor students taking the philosophy course. Albright comes away from the TA position with a similar feeling, saying, “While understanding philosophical principles is a feat on its own, I find it more challenging and rewarding to explain these principles to other students. While deepening my understanding, I learned how to effectively communicate abstract ideas to others.” This is why the TA position offers a well-rounded experience for participants. It enriches a student’s understanding of philosophy, provides one-on-one mentorship with faculty, cultivates community building with other TAs, and allows the TA to give back by engaging with peers who are just beginning their philosophy studies.

Anna Albright ‘24 (she/her).

Albright’s TA position was with Professor Baker’s Biomedical Ethics course. For Albright, this ELO appealed to her because she hopes “to eventually continue my studies in medical ethics by attending graduate school. I thought that working as a TA would be great practice for future teaching endeavors. Another big reason I decided to become a TA was the opportunity to work with Dr. Baker, as she is just the best!” Albright’s experience highlights another benefit of the TA position. This ELO is an excellent opportunity to gain insight into a future profession the student is considering pursuing.

Albright’s interest in pursuing a TA position is due to the impact studying philosophy has had on her. She notes, “Philosophy courses have given me an invaluable insight into the foundations of humanity and morality. The ethical framework I’ve learned throughout my academic career in philosophy has given me the knowledge to navigate ethical dilemmas.”

Isabella Pack ‘24 (she/her).

Isabella Pack shares a similar sentiment, “Philosophy was like a beacon in the night. I came to college initially thinking I wanted to be pre-med, but this allowed me to fall in love with school and law all over again.” Pack continues, “The first class I ever took was with Dr. Neufeld, Philosophy, Law, and the Arts, and I have been hooked on philosophy ever since. It allowed me to, one, fall in love with reading all over again and, two, read things that are thought-provoking and make me question the ways they impact me, the people around me, or even society.” She attributes how studying philosophy results in skill building, “Through philosophy, I have seen my critical thinking, writing, and logical reasoning skills increase through the various years of classes here at CofC.” These are skills beneficial in most professions as well as in life and will serve these students well in their future pursuits.

SAW IV

Southern Aesthetics Workshop Comes to Charleston

The Aesthetics WorkGroup, along with the Department of Philosophy, hosted the Fourth Annual Southern Aesthetics Workshop, affectionately known as “SAW IV!!!” (this is to be said in a mock-menacing horror movie announcer voice) the weekend of October 14-15 in 2022.

SAW IV brought an extraordinary group of 35 scholars together to talk about a variety of topics in aesthetics. Twelve scholars—from graduate students to full professors—presented their works in progress on wide range of topics, including reimagining beauty through fat vanity projects, atmosphere in painting, lingering aesthetic effects, interpretation, marriage in film, cringe, aesthetic motivations, the aesthetics of food, the Rothko Chapel, aesthetic reactive attitudes, and Buddhist approaches to experiencing horror films. Marcus Amaker, the first Poet Laureate of Charleston, was the keynote speaker.

Each presentation had two commentators, so discussion was lively. Participants came from Auburn; CofC; Florida International University; Furman; Georgetown; the Universities of Georgia, Louisville, South Carolina, South Florida and Texas; and Warren Wilson College. Students in Jonathan Neufeld’s Aesthetics class read three papers in advance and came to the conference to meet the authors. As a perfect end to a weekend of aesthetics, visitors enjoyed the opening of Charleston oyster season at Bowens Island!