Durham University will be hosting two Royal Institute of Philosophy lectures later this term as detailed below.

15th February 2018

Professor David Cockburn (Wales, Trinity Saint David)

Title: Fatalism; thoughts about tomorrow’s sea battle

Abstract:

In recent discussions, ‘fatalism’ has been understood as the thesis that it is a logical or conceptual truth that no one is able to act other than she in fact does. But there is another view, which may have more right to the label, and that merits discussion: the view that nothing that we do will make any difference to how things turn out. It is this view that is central to Aristotle’s discussion of tomorrow’s sea battle, and, while it may face decisive objections, there are things to be learned from it. I will argue that philosophical ‘fatalism’ in both its forms characteristically rests on a picture of our situation that has deep roots in contemporary philosophy: a picture in which thought aimed at determining how things are has primacy over deliberation about what I should do; and, following from this, one in which our idea of ourselves as agents in the world stands in need of a metaphysical grounding. These roots are expressed in the place that the notion of a ‘proposition’ (or of a ‘thought’) has in much current philosophical thinking. It is a striking fact that the great majority of recent responses to the standard fatalist reasoning move within this same basic framework of ideas.

This lecture will be held in the Birley Room, Hatfield College, Durham. Refreshments will be available from 5pm with the lecture commencing at 5:30pm

21st February 2018

Professor Lisa Bortolotti (Birmingham)

Title: Does optimism lead to success?

Abstract:

Does optimism lead to success? Although optimistic beliefs are said to contribute to fitness, good functioning, productivity, resilience, and even altruistic and caring behaviour, it is controversial whether they are conducive to success, intended as the fulfilment of the agent’s goals in a given domain. Sceptics argue that people who are optimistic can be unprepared for setbacks, fail to react constructively to negative feedback, feel disappointed when their performance does not match their expectations, disengage from their goals, and put themselves at risk due to underestimating threats.

So, when are optimistic beliefs linked to success? Here I rule out two influential views, that optimistic beliefs are linked to success when they accurately represent reality or when they boost the agent’s mood. Based on the results of psychological studies about attitudes towards romantic relationships and health prospects, I suggest that the optimistic beliefs linked to successful performance are not necessarily realistic and do not always boost the agent’s mood, but are instrumental to agents persevering in the pursuit of their goals at critical times. Beliefs supporting the sense that people are competent and efficacious agents and that their goals are both desirable and attainable sustain motivation and, indirectly, goal fulfilment.

This Lecture will be held in the Williams Library, St Chad’s College, Durham. Refreshments will be available from 11:30am with the lecture commencing at 12Noon.

A map to help you find either location can be found here: https://www.dur.ac.uk/map/

FNS 2018: Call for Abstracts

24^th International Conference of the Friedrich Nietzsche Society

“Nietzsche and the Politics of Difference”

Newcastle University, UK

20-21 September, 2018

Organizer

Andrea Rehberg, Newcastle University, UK

Plenary Speakers

Vanessa Lemm, University of New South Wales, Australia

Jill Marsden, University of Bolton, UK

Barış Parkan, Middle East Technical University, Turkey

Ashley Woodward, University of Dundee, UK

Call For Abstracts

Traditionally, difference is understood as that which pertains between given entities or identities but, starting with Nietzsche, the thought of an originary difference that is irreducible to identity and, moreover, constitutive of identity gains traction. At the same time the affirmation of difference as plurality or multiplicity goes hand in hand with difference as an ontological issue. The Nietzschean thought of difference thus marks the intersection of the ontological and the political.

Given that today we are faced with a host of political challenges of domination and resistance, the question we want to raise in this conference is how Nietzsche helps us to think through and to address some of the problems with which we are faced today but also how his writings complicate our desire for swift solutions to seemingly intractable problems: how to resist slavishness in thought and action, how to maintain hard-won civil liberties and rights in the face of encroaching hegemonic discourses, practices and forces, or how to counteract global environmental degradation, in short, how to oppose ‘totalitarian’ movements of homogenisation, universalisation, equalisation, and instead to affirm, both politically and ontologically, a culture of difference.

Although on the one hand Nietzsche was deeply critical of politics and politicians, on the other hand he advocated a ‘grand politics’ and frequently expressed his admiration for great statesmen such as Napoleon. Although, on the one hand, he questioned the value and implications of democracy and the ideal of equality it involves, on the other hand later thinkers, e.g., Jean-Luc Nancy, have recently extracted a Nietzschean sense of democracy from his writings. In fact, it has often been noted that Nietzsche’s thought contains – or at least implies – a complete political ontology, and this has been teased out by a host of twentieth-century post-structuralist thinkers, above all by Derrida, Deleuze, Foucault, Irigaray, Lyotard, Nancy and those who come after them. They, and we, are grappling with thorny questions of the possible intersections between political theory and political engagement, how to envisage forms of resistance without agency, what ateleological action looks like, and how to maintain a sense of the political without relapsing into the intellectual co-ordinates provided by a substance metaphysical framework and its purported grounds.

At the intersection of ontology and the political, Nietzsche’s thinking beyond subject, substance, telos or ground, and in terms of differentials of forces and impersonal events and processes, induces us to examine our traditional ways of thinking and our cherished anthropocentric investments. Given these strictures, the question is, in what ways does Nietzsche’s thought harbour the resources for a contemporary politics of difference and a thought of difference equal to it? These are some of the most intractable, yet at the same time most urgent questions facing anyone aiming to think with Nietzsche in these dark times. This is not to suggest that these are completely new questions – they have been asked in a variety of texts for many decades – but they have taken on a new urgency, given the perilous state the world is in at present. And since Nietzsche is arguably one of the most rigorously post-metaphysical thinker, if we pay close attention to what he says, we might be able to reinvigorate our political thinking beyond modes supported by the established consensus.

Some of these questions might be put as follows:

Can contemporary political phenomena be interpreted in terms of Nietzsche’s understanding of reactive and active forces? If so, how?

What is the role of slave morality in the constitution and operations of recent political movements and trends? Are there any pockets of nobility left in the political realm? If so, where?

What is a thought of the political beyond substance metaphysics?

Can the Nietzschean sense of agon serve as a viable model for contemporary political thought?

Beyond utility and calculative rationality, can Nietzsche’s thought mobilise a political activism?

We invite established academics, junior researchers, doctoral students and independent scholars in the fields of philosophy, politics, political theory, sociology, German studies, literary studies etc. to contribute to this conference.

Possible areas of investigation for a Nietzschean thought and politics of difference, although these are just suggestions:

·       Nietzschean nihilism and a politics of difference

·       Will to power and a politics of difference

·       The political dimensions of eternal recurrence as principle of selection and affirmation

·       Nietzsche’s perspectivism and a politics of difference

·       Identity and alterity in Nietzsche’s works

·       A Nietzschean democracy?

·       Political and ontological difference in Nietzsche’s works

·       Politics and the political in Nietzsche’s thought

·       An ethics and a politics of difference

·       Nietzsche’s critical theory of knowledge as a prelude to political theory

·       Foundationalism and anti-foundationalism in relation to Nietzschean difference

·       Nietzsche’s concepts of the herd, the slave, the last man and a politics of difference

·       Nietzsche’s idea of the ‘pathos of distance’ and a politics of difference

·       Nietzsche and feminism

·       Nietzsche in relation to the question of the animal

·       Nietzsche and Deleuze

·       Nietzsche and Derrida

·       Nietzsche and Foucault

·       Nietzsche and Irigaray

·       Nietzsche and Lyotard

·       Nietzsche and Jean-Luc Nancy

Applications for 30-minute papers with abstract are invited by 30 April 2018. Please send abstracts (max. 500 words) by email to: andrea.rehberg(at)ncl.ac.uk as a pdf attachment prepared for blind review. Please include a title in the body of the abstract. Please name the file with the following format when you save it FNS2018ABSTRACT_YOURLASTNAME

In the body of the email, please state:

·  the title of the paper

·  your name and institutional affiliation

·  your preferred email contact address

In the subject line of the email, please state only the following:
FNS2017ABSTRACT_YOURLASTNAME.

We aim to inform delegates of the outcome of their submission in early June 2018. If you have a particular pressing reason to request earlier notification of abstract acceptance, please contact andrea.rehberg(at)ncl.ac.uk

Philosophy Across Disciplines: An undergraduate and masters conference.  

Papers of undergraduate and masters level are requested for an interdisciplinary conference of works that encounter philosophy, hosted in Newcastle University on the 6th June.  There will be an opportunity to publish written work in line with the conference in a Proceeding that will publish soon after. 

Our aim is to explore philosophy research incorporated within other subjects. Thereby, we are seeking applicants from both philosophy students, and those outside the discipline, to display research into philosophical arguments. We would like to see individuals come to our conference to open up the discussion, and thus encourage those who apply from other departments in other universities.  

Submissions have to be in by the 30th of March. Please send them to: nclphilosconference@gmail.com 

We accept admissions from all research completed at pre-doctoral level in further education (such as BA, MA, MLitt, MPhil, etc.).  

If you submit an abstract and are accepted you will be expected to give a 10-minute talk followed by a 5-minute space for questions. Please consider the amount of research that can be covered given this time frame. If you desire a longer period of time, you can request to host a workshop on your topic that will entail a 30-minute frame.  

To apply you need to send a 300-word abstract: This should include: 

• What discipline you are interacting with. 
• Whom your research concerns i.e. the primary scholars you have used. 
• What area of philosophy you are studying. 

• A short bio, stating your name, institution and the level of study.  

For examples of opening an abstract: 

• “I intend to interpret the artwork of Botticelli philosophically. I will analyse his painting The Birth of Venus in light of the concept of ‘beauty’. The philosopher Edmund Burke and his text “A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful” will be used to in aim of uncovering what makes Botticelli’s Venus beautiful. It is important to apply philosophy to art to uncover a deeper understanding of…” 
• “This paper uses biblical analysis in conjunction with existentialist philosophy, in aim to question if Mark’s Gospel was written for the pursuit of hope and illusion. Hope is the concept in focus, and thereby Ernst Bloch’s The Principle of Hope is my primary text.  
• “This paper will explore the works of George Simmel in light of modern economic concerns where the substantive existence of money is ceasing to be relevant…” 

• “The purpose of this paper is to assess the role of social media in contemporary society. The Black Mirror episode named Nosedive will be used as an example of…”  
• “This paper will explore the problems of Lazzaratean Neo-Marxism with an existentialist account derived from Dostoyevsky…” 

Note: There is no specification on your degree for this form of application: you just still have to be, or recently have been, a student. 

If you are interested in being considered for the proceedings you should indicate this in your email. For this, we expect: 

• A fully referenced essay to be submitted a month before the conference. You may be expected to make some edits before it is published. 

• The word range to be in-between 2,000 to 10,000 including references and bibliography. This means you can enter a dissertation level essay, but be warned that your conference speech still has to be within the stated time limits. 

We will hold this conference in Newcastle University. Room details will be announced with the running order which will be made available publicly by the 6th June. 

For a career in academia one is often required to think about philosophy. This conference provides a necessary launching point forcing one to think of the importance of philosophy in other disciplines. Moreover, participating in this conference will aptly provide academic professional experience, allow experimentation with presentation techniques, improve public speaking skills and therefore, will boost any CV. 

Contact: nclphilosconference@gmail.com 

Philosophy Events
2017–18

Semester II
16/5 Robert Bernasconi (Penn State), ‘Rethinking the Anthropocene in Terms of Race’ (Contact michael.lewis@ncl.ac.uk if you want to attend this event)

June 6th: Philosophy Undergrad-Postgrad conference:  https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/philosophy/2018/01/29/philosophy-across-disciplines-newcastle-philosophy-undergraduate-and-postgraduate-conference-june-6th-2018/

The Friedrich Nietzsche Society is holding its conference here in September: https://fns.org.uk/node/342

Other, extra-mural events, organised by Bigg Books/Newcastle Philosophy Society

Unless otherwise indicated: Time: 7pm. Place: Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Society. Admission: £3

Tuesday 24^th April: Markus Gabriel (University of Bonn) — The 21^st Century Brain

Tuesday 15^th May: (Keith Ansell-Pearson’s event has had to be cancelled: it will be replaced by:)   Prof. Edith Hall (KCL), Aristotle on True Happiness

Saturday May 19th: Andres de Saenz Sicilia — Philosophical Materialism, 2–4pm (Hosted by the Newcastle Philosophy Society), St. John the Baptist Church Hall, Newcastle. Venue tbc. (Andres will also be giving a closed session for more advanced philosophers in the morning. Those interested in attending should contact Anthony Morgan to express their interest (a.t.morgan@live.co.uk)

Tuesday 5^th June: Gregory Claeys (Royal Holloway) — Why Marx Matters

Delighted to see some continental philosophy at Warwick again:

Warwick Continental Philosophy Conference: Identity and Community: Metaphysics, Politics, Aesthetics, 27^th-29^th June 2018

Keynote speaker: Prof. Alison Stone (Lancaster)

“It is not because the Indo-Chinese discovered a culture of their own that they revolted. Quite simply this was because it became impossible to breathe, in more than one sense of the word.”

(Frantz Fanon, Black Skin White Masks)

The history of the concept of identity is marked by a fundamental tension: between the individual as subject, and the example of the group; between identity as an inherent or essential nature or specified as a ratified connection. The relation between identity and community, the relational qualities of each, and the content which they encompass has been subject to repeated reformulation throughout history. On the one hand, it has been argued that the subject itself has been constituted in a new way by concrete changes in the way in which we live: by modernism, capitalism, or new technologies. On the other, new examinations of history have drawn into question narratives regarding different nations, classes, genders and cultures.

The identity of individuals, and the aspects of their lives which are to be considered constitutive of that identity, is an issue which is central to a host of complex political and ethical issues. What does it mean to have an identity: to belong to a nation or a continent, to a race, gender or religion? And what is the connection of this belonging and our individual existence and consciousness? During an ongoing refugee crisis, rising nationalism and within an increasingly globalised world, how have the metaphysical and political boundaries of identity shifted?

Art and aesthetics share this tension. The place of the work of art and the individual artist within a genre or movement remains an open question – whether the author is dead, the work a manifestation of the group; whether the ideas behind the artwork are more important than the socio-economic foundation from which it arises. Corollary to this, discussions of art and the political have opened questions concerning the relation of aesthetics to community,and the possible connection of new identities and new forms of, or values within, aesthetics. Does art play a mediating role in the formation of the new community, allow for the expression of a communal voice, or reveal the individual identity then imitated by the mass?

It is in light of these questions that the Warwick Continental Philosophy Conference (WCPC) is pleased to announce its inaugural conference, Identity and Community: Metaphysics, Politics, and Aesthetics, to be held from the 27^th until the 29^th of June 2018 on the main campus of Warwick University. We believe Continental Philosophy offers unique insight into questions of subjectivity, with the possibility of critically engaging both identity and community in their own terms, without privileging one or the other; of opening new avenues for connections to be drawn between art and politics. We are also pleased to announce that Dr Alison Stone of Lancaster University will be giving a keynote presentation on the topic of Hegel and colonialism. Dr Stone has published widely on Hegel’s philosophy of nature and the philosophies of nature of other German Idealist and Romantic thinkers, such as Schelling, Schlegel, Novalis and Hölderlin. She will also be participating in a roundtable discussion on a closely related topic on the 27^th, open to the public.

We invite abstracts for talks lasting approximately twenty minutes on any area of Continental Philosophy that intersects with these questions. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• The ontology of identity and community
• Differences, diversity, oppositions and contradictions in identity
• Philosophy of the subject and subjectivation
• The history of the concept of identity
• Aesthetics and the expression of communal and individual identity
• Art, genre, and community
• Political movements and their relation to identity
• Outsider art and the wider art world

The deadline for submissions is the 30^th April 2018. Please send your submissions, along with any inquiries regarding the conference, to WCPC@warwick.ac.uk. A certain number of bursaries will be available to cover transportation within Europe. If you would like to be considered for such a bursary, please make this clear in your submission email. For more information, please see https://warwickcontinentalphilosophyconference.wordpress.com/.

This conference is made possible with the generous support of the Warwick Philosophy Department and the Humanities Research Centre.

Some podcasts from Lancaster, where philosophy and psychiatry are often conjoined:

http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/bioethics-and-philosophy-of-medicine/category/blog/ 

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BGZ497/department-of-philosophy-scholarships/

Sheffield Undergraduate Philosophy Conference:

The Spring 2018 edition of PhilonoUS, the University of Sheffield’s Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy and the annual Sheffield Undergraduate Philosophy conference are now accepting submissions. This year PhilonoUS: The Sheffield Undergraduate Journal of Philosophy and the Sheffield Undergraduate Philosophy Conference are teaming up so that authors need only submit once and will be considered for both the conference and journal unless they indicate otherwise within their email submission.

We welcome students from all philosophy departments, and we welcome submissions from students at all levels of study. The conference and journal are open to and aimed at all philosophy undergraduates, so please don’t think that only final year students are experienced enough to give a talk or submit a paper, that really isn’t the case.

The conference will take place on the 24^th and 25^th of March 2018 in the Humanities Research Institute at the University of Sheffield’s main campus. Papers should be no more than 6000 words in length, but can relate to any area of Philosophy. The deadline for submissions is Friday 9^th February 2018 at 5pm (GMT), and submissions should be sent to u.g.phil.journal@sheffield.ac.uk . No identifying information should be present within the paper, but the body of your email should contain your name, contact email, University of study and year of study. If your paper is under review elsewhere, we cannot consider you for the journal, but we would still love to consider you for the conference. Authors will be notified of decisions at least four weeks prior to the conference.

If your paper is selected for the conference you will be asked to give a talk and this can either be a shorter talk of 15-20 minutes or a longer one of 30 minutes. Please, let us know your preference when submitting your paper/abstract. The talk will be followed by approximately 15 minutes of questions, which will be an opportunity to explore your ideas further. Don’t be put off by the length of time you will be asked to speak – it really isn’t as daunting as it sounds and the event will be a friendly, encouraging and collaborative environment.

All further details regarding submissions, publication and purchasing a copy of the journal can be found on our website at www.uosphilosophyjournal.wordpress.com

Should you require any further information please feel free to contact us at the above email address.

Many Thanks,

The Sheffield Undergraduate Philosophy Conference Organisers & PhilonoUS Editors-in-chief

Philosophy of Life, Durham, January 23rd and 24th
https://www.dur.ac.uk/ias/events/events_listings/?eventno=37564