All posts by Michael Lewis

About Michael Lewis

Michael Lewis teaches Philosophy at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Philosophical Anthropology and Contemporary Continental Philosophy- Recordings

The recordings of the recent Philosophical Anthropology workshop, September 15th 2017:

 

9:30am Elizabeth Cykowski (University of Oxford), ‘Heidegger and the Idea of Philosophical Anthropology’

Discussion

10:15am Michael Lewis (University of Newcastle), ‘Beyond the Death of Man: Foucault, Derrida, and Philosophical Anthropology’

Discussion

12:00pm Anne Alombert (University of Paris – Nanterre), ‘Derrida and Simondon: Thinking the “Human” “Outside” the Language of Metaphysics’

Discussion

2:00pm Gerald Moore (University of Durham), ‘Philosophy, Anthropology, and the Milieus of Addiction’

Discussion

3:00pm Nina Power (University of Roehampton), ‘The Politics of Philosophical Anthropology: Who is the Collective Subject?’

Discussion

4:30pm Lorenzo Chiesa (Genoa School of Humanities/European University at St. Petersburg), ‘Insomnia@work: Between Post-workerism and Psychoanalysis’

Discussion

PhD Funding

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BEJ972/phd-studentships-in-the-arts-and-humanities-for-2018-entry/

 

PhD Studentships in the Arts and Humanities for 2018 Entry

Newcastle University

AHRC Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership is offering fifty PhD studentships for 2018 entry.

The Partnership brings together the cutting-edge expertise and exceptional resources of Newcastle University, Durham University and Queen’s University Belfast and their strategic partners. Northern Bridge students benefit from supervision, training and development of the highest quality, tailored to the needs of twenty-first-century researchers.

We invite outstanding applications in the following subject areas:

  • Archaeology
  • Architecture: Practice, History and Theory
  • Classics
  • Creative Writing
  • Cultural Geography
  • Digital Arts: Practice, History and Theory
  • Drama and Theatre Studies
  • English Language and Literature
  • Ethnography and Anthropology
  • Fine Art: Practice, History and Theory
  • Film: Practice, History, Theory and Criticism
  • French Studies
  • German Studies
  • Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
  • History
  • Interpreting and Translation
  • Italian Studies
  • Law and Legal Studies
  • Linguistics
  • Media and Communication Studies
  • Museum Studies
  • Music
  • ******Philosophy*******
  • Photography: Practice, History and Theory
  • Policy, Arts Management and Creative Industries
  • Political Science and International Studies
  • Russian, Slavonic and Eastern European Studies
  • Theology, Divinity and Religion

The Award

100% of UK/EU tuition fees paid and an annual stipend at the RCUK postgraduate rate, currently £14,553. Also, additional funding to cover other study related costs (ie study abroad, conference attendance etc).

Eligibility

Candidates must have a first-class or good upper-second undergraduate degree and be expected to perform at or around Distinction level in a Master’s degree. Candidates with lower qualifications may be considered if they can demonstrate that relevant professional practice or work experience has equipped them with equivalent academic and research skills.

Applicants must apply to commence a programme of doctoral study in the 2018/19 academic year starting 1 October 2018. Applicants who have already commenced their doctoral studies are eligible to apply providing they will have completed no more than 18 months full-time or 36 months part-time study by 1 October 2018.

These awards are available to UK/EU applicants only. EU applicants who have not been resident in the UK for the three years prior to the start of their studentship are eligible for a fees-only award from the AHRC. Institutional funds permitting, Northern Bridge may offer maintenance awards to EU applicants selected for studentships.

Please read the full eligibility criteria for further details.

Closing date

The application deadline is Wednesday 10 January 2018 at 5pm.

Further information

Visit our website to find out more and apply or contact us:

Sarah Rylance
Doctoral Training Partnership Administrator
Tel. +44 (0)191 208 6190
Email: northernbridge.admin@newcastle.ac.uk

Undergraduates! Publish your Philosophy!

Calling for Undergraduate Philosophy Submissions for the Vassar College Journal of Philosophy

We are entering our 5th year of Vassar’s undergraduate-run philosophy journal and we’re excited to announce the theme for next year is BORDERS. Please forward to undergraduate philosophy (or philosophically inclined) departments and students.

Submission Guidelines

Format: 12 point Times New Roman font, 5000 word maximum for the Paper, 100 word maximum for the Abstract. There is no minimum word count, provided that the topic of the paper is suitably addressed. Papers should not include your name or other identifying information. Please provide your paper title, name, email, and major in a separate attachment.

Citation Format: Chicago Citation Style. 500-word maximum.

Topic: The theme for our upcoming issue is “Borders” Any philosophical treatment of this theme is welcome.

Deadline: All materials must be submitted via email to philosophyjournal@vassar.edu no later than October 20, 2017.

For a pdf version of the Call for Papers or access to the most recent issue of the Journal, please enquire at hekrusoe@vassar.edu.

September 14th – Canguilhem and Simondon & September 15th Philosophical Anthropology

September 14th-15th, workshops on Canguilhem-Simondon and Philosophical Anthropology, Durham and Newcastle Universities

Two events may be of interest, running on consecutive days in Durham and Newcastle.

1) Sept 14th, Durham University, Centre for Cultural Ecologies, Canguilhem-Simondon: Epistemology and Ontology of the Milieu

To date, the intellectual legacies of Georges Canguilhem (1904-1995) and Gilbert Simondon (1925-1989) have largely been recognised through their impact on others, with Canguilhem known as an influence on Michel Foucault and Simondon influencing Gilles Deleuze and, latterly, Bruno Latour and Bernard Stiegler. With the shift of research in continental philosophy towards biology, technology and the medical humanities, plus the importance of their concept of ‘milieu’ to the environmental sciences, both are now increasingly seen as major philosophers in their own right. It is this concept of milieu that links Canguilhem and Simondon together. The former defined health and pathology in terms of the ability to withstand environmental perturbation, or ‘inconsistencies in the milieu’, and ultimately saw knowledge and technology as extensions of the norms through which biological organisms create their own environment. The latter sought to update the work of his supervisor to account for the constitutive role of technical environments (‘associated milieus’) in the ‘individuation’, or ontogenesis, of the tool-user, which led in turn to a fundamental revision of Marx’s theory of alienation. This workshop will provide a forum for discussing all aspects of the work of Canguilhem and Simondon, taken both in their own right and in relation to others. Discussions will start with the milieu, but range beyond it to broach topics including epistemology and ontology; pathology and disindividuation; biological and technical normativity; science and work, among others.
Confirmed speakers include: Andrea Bardin (Brunel)—Stuart Elden (Warwick)—Anaïs Nony (Florida State)—Mauro Senatore (Durham)

There are still a couple of spaces available to give a paper. For further information, or to register your participation (free of charge), email gerald.moore@durham.ac.uk.

2) Sept 15th, Newcastle University, Philosophy
Philosophical Anthropology and Contemporary Continental Philosophy

What is the relation between the empirical species, homo sapiens and the symbolic cultural institutions and structures to which it must accommodate itself in order to become fully ‘human’? How are we to understand the transition between the ‘human animal’ and the transcendental subject, ‘Dasein’, or however we choose to describe the human being’s philosophical double? What sort of natural character must the human animal possess if it is to be capable of the role that philosophy has assigned it? And what effects if any should this natural character have on this role and on the political and institutional arrangements which we ultimately advocate?

With the turn of continental philosophy towards the natural sciences, including, in particular, evolutionary theory and biology, and the increasingly theoretical inclinations of Cultural Anthropology, it seems that a reconsideration of the idea of a ‘philosophical anthropology’ might prove to be fruitful in indicating a way out of certain of the impasses of contemporary thought.

This workshop attempts a preliminary gathering together of perspectives on the question of man in contemporary continental philosophy with a view to clarifying the problem and identifying possible solutions. Figures to be addressed include Martin Heidegger, Gilbert Simondon, Jacques Derrida, Giorgio Agamben, Catherine Malabou, Bernard Stiegler, and Paolo Virno.

Confirmed speakers for that event are Anne Alombert (Nanterre); Lorenzo Chiesa (Genoa School of Humanities/European University at St. Petersburg); Elizabeth Cykowski (Oxford); Michael Lewis (Newcastle); Nina Power (Roehampton). For information and (free) registration, email michael.lewis@newcastle.ac.uk or gerald.moore@durham.ac.uk.

https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/philosophy/2017/04/14/workshop-on-philosophical-anthropology-and-contemporary-continental-philosophy/

Event on Lars Iyer’s Novels

A Message from Lars Iyer:

William Large and I will be discussing the Spurious trilogy (among other things) at the Cumberland pub in Byker (http://www.thecumberlandarms.co.uk/ ), Newcastle on Thurs 6th July at 9PM. We’ll be in the upstairs function room (free entry). The discussion is part of the Shared Futures conference held here in the School of English (http://www.englishsharedfutures.uk/ ). An abstract for our discussion follows below.

We’ll be in town having a bite to eat beforehand at Dat Bar (http://datbar.gustouk.com/wordpress/ ). Do join us from 7.00 or so and we can travel together to the Cumberland.

Abstract: The Humour of Failure: Laughing at the Achievement Society

What does failure mean? Are you a failure? Do you find it difficult to remain upbeat and engaged? Does your capacity to hope seem merely a mocking reminder of your powerlessness?

In our world, what matters is success. We live in an achievement society, governed by a pressure to achieve and a stifling positivity. We are supposed to be entrepreneurs of ourselves – individual micro-enterprises, constantly networking and optimising skills. But this means burn-out and depression are never far away.

In this discussion, Lars Iyer and William Large, aka the fictional characters Lars and W. of Lars Iyer’s Spurious trilogy (Melville House, 2011-13), consider how humour might permit a tactics of withdrawal from contemporary opportunism and cynicism.

Best,
Lars

Kierkegaard Journal for Student Writings

Kierkegaard in Process is open for submissions.

Essays submitted for the 2nd issue of Kierkegaard in Process must be submitted by May 15th 2017.

Kierkegaard in Process is a student journal exploring and researching the thoughts of Søren Kierkegaard, created by and for students. We encourage young scholars to develop their academic skills and interests further and provide a platform for publishing and engaging the work of fellows in this field. We publish essays in English and Danish.

Articles should follow the guidelines and abbrevations specified in the documents found at www.kierkegaardinprocess.com/callforpapers

Email all submissions and questions to: kierkegaardinprocess@gmail.com

About Kierkegaard in Process:

Kierkegaard in Process is the new Søren Kierkegaard Student Journal, based at the University of Copenhagen. This journal will offer a platform for undergraduate and graduate students to submit their own research on Kierkegaard. We are looking for high quality submissions on a range of topics. We will consider, for example, critical and reflective essays on Kierkegaard’s concepts, Kierkegaard’s relationship and engagement with other thinkers, speculative and interpretative essays, and reviews on recently published books on Kierkegaard, etc. If you are a student and you have written a paper on Kierkegaard, we will consider it.

Kierkegaard in Process responds to the idea that very often students have something great to say, and very often no platform to say it. Kierkegaard in “process” emphasises the thought that one is never finished with the existential project Kierkegaard is communicating and importantly, also that our student contributors are underway with academia, not fully accomplished scholars. Kierkegaard in Process further embodies both the thought that everyone is a continuous student of life and that we as philosophy students are also students of Kierkegaard.

Barney Riggs and Amanda Houmark

Founders of Kierkegaard in Process