Thursday, November 13, 2014 at 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Wolff Conference Room, Albert and Vera List Academic Center, D1103 6 East 16th Street, New York, NY 10011, Room D1103
Valérie Cordonier (a junior research fellow at France’s CNRS, specifically in the Centre d’Histoire des Sciences et des Philosophies Arabes et Médiévales (UMR 7219, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité) will give a talk titled: “How Some Ancient Ideas Work: The Case of the Electric Fish from Aristotle to Averroes.”
The electric fish (or the electric ray, or torpedo) is known for being able to cause numbness to other fish or to the fishermen’s hands when captured into their nets. Such a paralyzing power, which was described for the first time in Aristotle’s biological works, was subsequently referred to and discussed in various contexts. By tracing back the most decisive occurrences of this topos in Galen, Alexander of Aphrodisias and Averroes, Valérie Cordonier will illustrate what kind of philosophical relevance a study of the Peripatetic tradition as such can have – in particular concerning disciplines in which Aristotle’s contribution is definively outmoded, as is the case with the philosophy of nature.
Sponsored by the Department of Philosophy at The New School for Social Research.
Cinzia Arruzza, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, New School for Social Research, will give a talk entitled “Spirit in Plato’s Republic and the Tyrant’s Psychopathology”
Abstract
The nature and function of spirit is one of the mysteries of Plato’s Republic. Throughout the dialogue, spirit is said to be responsible for propensity to anger, savagery, violence, harshness, and perpetual war, desire for victory and power, arrogance and stubbornness, but also courage, desire for honor, sensitivity to what appears just, rebellion against a perceived injustice, and alliance with reason in the conflict with the appetitive part. What is the unity at the basis of these various manifestations of spirit? In the first part of this paper I would like to try to answer the question concerning both the nature of spirit and its relation to the other two parts of the soul. In the second part of the paper, I will briefly discuss the tyrant’s case, in order to show how spirit may work and play a role within what should be considered as a special case of psychopathology.
This event is sponsored by The New School for Social Research.
Professor Michele Moody-Adams (Columbia) will present “Moral Progress and Human Agency” at the CUNY Graduate Center, Skylight Room 9100, Monday, October 5, 2015.
Abstract: I argue that the idea of moral progress is a necessary presupposition of action for beings like us. We must believe that moral progress is possible, and that it might have been realized in human experience at some point in history, if we are to be confident that continued human action can have any morally constructive point. I discuss the implications of this truth for moral psychology. But I also argue that once we understand the complex nature—and the complicated social sources—of moral progress, we will appreciate that we cannot find a single principle, or set of principles, to reliably guide attempts to make the world “a better place.” Yet while the idea of moral progress cannot ultimately yield such principles of action, it can serve, as I’ll show, as a plausible and constructive principle of historical interpretation.
Nickolas Pappas, Professor,The Graduate Center, CUNY, will give a talk entitled: “A Little Move toward Greek Philosophy: Reassessing the Statesman Myth”
Abstract:
The myth told in Plato’s Statesman separates the present from an “age of Cronus,” sometimes thought of as a golden age in which political order as we know it was unnecessary. And yet this golden age may not have been a time of happiness, if its inhabitants did not practice philosophy. The subtle, even evanescent difference between our time and that time re-imagines the founding of philosophical institutions, which turn out to be almost indistinguishable from political ones.
This event is sponsored by The New School for Social Research.
Diana Tietjens Meyers
Passivity in Theories of the Agentic Self: Reflections on the views of Soren Reader and Sara Buss.
Sponsored by NY SWIPshop
The Simon H. Rifkind Center for the Humanities and Arts
Presents:
Cinzia Arruzza
New School for Social Research
Sara Brill
Fairfield University
Andrea Capra
State University of Milan
Burt Hopkins
Seattle University
Elizabeth Jelinek
Christopher Newport University
Michael Naas
DePaul University
Noburu Notomi
Yokohama National University
Nicholas Rynearson
Brooklyn College, CUNY
Marylou Sena
Seattle University
Thomas Thorp
Saint Xavier University
Organisers:
Nickolas Pappas
CUNY Graduate Center
Poster: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzqJK3SK3JjZbTBQY0d3ZnIxWUU/view?usp=sharing
Crafting Ancient Identities: Mythological and Philosophical Approaches to the Self and Society in Antiquity
Tenth Annual Graduate Conference in Classics
Friday, March 31, 2017
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
Keynote Speaker: Professor Kathryn Morgan, UCLA
In Greek and Roman antiquity, mythology and philosophy helped individuals understand their world and define their place in society. From the supernatural exploits in Homer to the etiological accounts of Ovid, mythology humanized natural phenomena and preserved cultural history. Philosophy, meanwhile, reflects an effort to systematize knowledge and answer questions about our place in the world. Both mythological narratives and philosophic thought participated in the crafting of ancient identities, whether as individuals, communities, or nations. The Romans, for example, turned to mythology to identify themselves as the descendants of Aeneas, just as the Athenian philosophers attempted to define what it meant to be a citizen.
The PhD/MA Program in Classics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York invites graduate students in Classics or related fields to submit abstracts of papers that explore how mythology and philosophy contribute to the development of identity in the Greco-Roman world.
Possible paper topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Etiological myths
- Autochthony and migration stories
- Philosophic schools and communities
- Philosophical poetry and the Presocratics
- Reception and transformation of myth in antiquity
- Hero cults and religious communities
- The role of myth in philosophical discourse
Please send an anonymous abstract of approximately 300 words as an email attachment to cunyclassicsconference@gmail.com by January 16, 2017. Please include, in the body of the email, your name, university affiliation, and the title of the presentation. Speakers will have 15 minutes to present. Selected applicants will be notified in early February. Submissions and questions will be received by conference co-organizers Federico Di Pasqua and Thomas Moody.
April 25, Saray Alaya-Lopez (Cal. State, Sacramento), “Agency in Structural Explanations of Injustice.” 6:30-8:00pm, CUNY Graduate Center 5414.
May 23, Karen Jones (U. Melbourne), “Radical Consciousness and Epistemic Privilege.” 6:30-8:00pm, CUNY Graduate Center 5414.
The 35th annual meeting of
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP)
October 21 – 22, 2017
Fordham University, Lincoln Center, New York
113 West 60th Street, New York, NY 10023
Corner of Columbus (9th) Avenue and West 60th Street
Sponsored by Fordham University
The Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy (SAGP)
Conference Organizers
Tony Preus (apreus@binghamton.edu), Binghamton University
Daryl Tress (tress@fordham.edu), Fordham University
Registration for the Conference
There are some aspects of this conference that have changed from the way it has been done in the past:
· No Friday Plenary Session.
· No Food. Those who have been attending will remember that food is available in the snack bar just off the Atrium where we have held the Friday Evening sessions several times. In addition, there are several restaurants and a Starbucks close by.
· No Registration Fee as such. In order to cover the minimum expenses of putting on the program – badges, printed programs, paying some students to help with registration – we require that everyone who participates or attends be a member of SAGP for 2017/18. We’ll try to cover everything out of SAGP dues, and that will work only if we’re serious about all attendees being current dues-paying members of the Society. Membership forms and information about current membership status available from apreus@binghamton.edu.
· Fordham University security requires all visitors to the Lincoln Center Campus to register for the conference and receive a guest badge. Members of the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy who are on the program will have a badge waiting for them when they arrive (we hope). Other current members who expect to attend, but are not on the program, should alert Preus (apreus@binghamton.edu) of their intention, in order to assure that a badge will be prepared for them. Current members who plan to attend are encouraged to volunteer to chair a session: a DRAFT program is included below to assist in planning for that!
· We hope to make it possible for persons who are not current members to join the Society for 2017/18 at the registration desk and get a badge, at least on Saturday morning.
Conference Location
All conference events take place at Fordham University, Lincoln Center campus, 60th St. & Columbus Ave, New York. This is on the western side of Manhattan, about two blocks from Columbus Circle and the southwestern border of Central Park. The closest subway stop for Fordham is the 59 Street/Columbus Circle stop, which is serviced by the blue lines (the A and C trains), the red line (the #1 train) and the orange line (the B and D trains).
Accommodations
The hotel closest to Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus is the Hudson Hotel (www.hudsonhotel.com), which provides a business rate (pending availability) if you identify yourself as affiliated with Fordham University.
Lodging can be found on a number of search vehicles like www.expedia.com, www.nyc.com/hotels/, hotels.com, or, www.nycgo.com/hotels (which is the site to which the Mayor’s office links). A number of sites allow you to search by regions within Manhattan. The three regions closest to Fordham are Central Park West (north of the campus), Clinton (“Hell’s Kitchen,” west and south of the campus), and Midtown West (south of the campus). Some sites allow you to search by landmarks: the closest one to Fordham is the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (across the street from Fordham). The Lincoln Center area is one of the more expensive places to stay in the city, but around Bryant Park and the Empire State building (three stops from Columbus Circle on the red line), lodging is more reasonably priced.
Other useful links:
· Fordham University, Lincoln Center Information Page (http://www.fordham.edu/info/21454/lincoln_center_campus)
· Subway map (http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm)
· Bus map (www.mta.info/nyct/maps/busman.pdf)
People feel on occasion that life should be embraced in a certain way. You only live once, carpe diem, #YOLO: we commonly associate the thought of our limited lives with the thought that we should take adventures, risks, or break with our routines and norms. But how, if at all, does the thought that you only live once motivate adventurous, risky, or unusual behavior? After all, having only one life seems to equally well motivate the exact opposite of adventure and risk. I consider several ways of supporting the thought that life should be embraced. All are found wanting, except one.