Join In Parenthesis and the Royal Institute of Philosophy on Saturday November 10th to celebrate the launch of the Midgley Archive at Durham University.

Mary Midgley (1919-2018) was one of the world’s leading philosophers and her work continues to shape the way we think about human life and our relation to each other, to animals, and to nature. Join us for a short film and discussion about Mary’s work and her place in 20th Century intellectual history, followed by a chance to look at some of the archive‘s most significant pieces. Tea and coffee will be provided.

Book via eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mary-midgley-archive-launch-tickets-50065326740

Mary Midgley Archive Launch Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite www.eventbrite.co.uk Eventbrite – In Parenthesis with the Royal Institute of Philosophy presents Mary Midgley Archive Launch – Saturday, 10 November 2018 at Durham University Library, Durham, England. Find event and ticket information.

For further information on the collection, see http://www. womeninparenthesis.co.uk/ about/visit-the-midgley–archive/

For enquiries, please contact rachael.wiseman@liverpool.ac. uk and clare.maccumhaill@dur.ac.uk

***UPDATE: a recording of the talk and the discussion afterwards is available here. (N.b. it starts rather quietly, but as soon as the discussion starts, the volume is much louder).

A film screening, a week on Friday, and other events in Philosophy: a poster for you to display where you see fit:

Being in the World Film Screening Advert – October 2018

Particularly for new arrivals at Newcastle, and newcomers to the blog, we do have a facebook page, that we invite you to follow/like/and generally be a part of.

https://www.facebook.com/NewcastleUniversityPhilosophy/

A New Collection on Philosophy and Translation, from Routledge, including contributions from one of our own:

https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Translation-and-Philosophy/Rawling-Wilson/p/book/9781138933552

All students and staff and alumni welcome to these events, which may be added to as time goes on:

AUTUMN TERM:

Week 4    FILM SCREENING: Being in the World: Friday 1–2:25pm MERZ.L301

Week 6   Tuesday 6th November 2018, 3pm-5pm Brian O’Connor (University College Dublin), Autonomy as a Political Problem, BSTC.2.51

Week 11    FILM SCREENING: Vita Activa (on Hannah Arendt), Friday 1–2:55 pm in MERZ.L301 (possibly much shorter: I’ve yet to ascertain the film’s length)

SPRING TERM:

Thursday 31^st January 2019, 4pm–5pm, BSTC.B.32 – FILM SCREENING: Bryan Magee interviews Herbert Marcuse, BSTC.B.32

And more film screenings, on Sartre, to follow in later weeks.

Which, is to be confirmed.

(If anyone can find a film on Tran Duc Thao, the Vietnamese-French philosopher we’re also covering on the Phenomenology course, with which these film screenings are loosely connected, there are cash prizes.)

Please come along, Newcastle Students and Staff!

Philosophy Extra Events Autumn_Winter 2018

Newcastle Philosophy has been ranked 3rd among all United Kingdom university philosophy programmes in the Times Good University Guide!

Everyone is welcome to attend this always wonderful conference in Alnmouth, organised by Newcastle’s own, Michael Bavidge:

Philosophy Workshop

Sponsored by the PSE Northern Group

Of Sound Mind

Saturday, 6^th October, 2018

10.30 am – 6.00 pm

Methodist Hall, Alnmouth,

Northumberland

 If you would like to join us please enrol by contacting

Michael Bavidge, 6 Craghall Dene Avenue,

Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 1QR                                                m.c.bavidge@ncl.ac.uk

Fee: £15 payable on the day

Timetable

10.00 am      Coffee

10.30 am      Context and Constraints     Ian Ground

11.40 am      Coffee

11.50 am      The Space of a Shared Life    Michael Bavidge

1 pm             Lunch

2.00 pm        Participants’ workshop

3.00 pm        Cetaceans and Conceptualisation    Ian Ground

4.15 pm        Tea

4.30 pm        Betraying animals    Michael Bavidge

5 pm             General Discussion

6 pm              Close.

Ian Ground is a Teaching Fellow in the Fine Art Department at Newcastle University. He has published on animals minds and has recently edited the formidable Portraits of Wittgenstein.

Michael is President of the Philosophical Society of England. He was a lecturer in Philosophy at Newcastle University. He struggles with theories of mind – human (adult and child) and brute.

Ian’s Discussions

A default position in our ordinary thought, the philosophy of mind and to an extent, the cognitive sciences, is that while we may now think that at least some, perhaps many other animals are” minded”, still the character of their mindedness not only is but must remain mysterious to us. In these two discussions, I try to confront default mainstream positions about animal mindedness with empirical results, in particular the known facts about the dolphin sonar system: ensonfication. My aim is not to defend a thesis but only to offer some reflections on how some mainstream constraints relating to concept possession fare when faced with the ethological findings.

Mike’s Discussions

In 1998 Ian and I wrote Can We Understand Animal Minds? The first chapter was entitled ‘The Shared World’. We inhabit the shared world as humans, but that does not mean it is an exclusively human space. In my talks I will examine the contours of our shared life. I hope to show how our world is impoverished and our philosophical theories are distorted when we forget or downgrade the mindedness of animals.