JOSHUA MASON (West Chester University of Pennsylvania)
“Cognitive Linguistics and Cultural Gulfs: From Embodied Metaphors to Responsible Generalizations”
An ongoing debate in comparative research is about whether we should see cultural diversities as manifestations of essential differences or as superficial variations on a universal blueprint. Edward Slingerland has pointed to cognitive linguistics and the use of embodied metaphors to emphasize the universality of concept formation and cognition across cultures. He suggests that this should quiet the “cultural essentialists” who take fundamental differences in eastern and western thinking as their starting points. Michael Puett has also leveled a critique of cultural essentialism in support of a presuppositionless approach, and Slingerland’s conclusions seem to offer him support. However, I will argue that even if all modern humans are broadly similar in metaphor use and cognitive processes, research in the humanities must continue to account for the differences implied by the particular metaphors employed and emphasized in diverse traditions. I contend that responsible hermeneutic practice does this through provisional, yet indispensable, generalizations. A starting point which recognizes the existence of cultural gulfs will facilitate, not vitiate, future advances in cross-cultural understanding.
We are excited to share with you our upcoming lineup of speakers:
February 26: Joshua Mason (West Chester University)
March 18: Harvey Lederman (NYU)
April 8: Shigenori Nagatomo (Temple University)
April 29: Sara McClintock (Emory University)
We will provide more information regarding the topic of each speaker’s
presentation as the semester progresses. We hope to see you all at what
promises to be a semester of discussion and engagement.
Reading the Foucault Collège de France Lectures with
Seyla Benhabib, Homi Bhabha, Judith Butler, Veena Das, François Ewald, Didier Fassin, James Faubion, Nancy Fraser, Frédéric Gros, Daniele Lorenzini, Nancy Luxon, Achille Mbembe, Paul Rabinow, Judith Revel, Pierre Rosanvallon, Ann Stoler, and Linda Zerilli
in conversation with Columbia University colleagues
Etienne Balibar, Partha Chatterjee, Jean Cohen, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Katherine Franke, Robert Gooding-Williams, Stathis Gourgouris, Axel Honneth, Jeremy Kessler, Lydia Liu, Anna Lvovsky, Sharon Marcus, Alondra Nelson, John Rajchman, Emmanuelle Saada, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Kendall Thomas, Adam Tooze, and Nadia Urbinati
Moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco
Race war, biopolitics, the hermeneutics of the self, governmentality, the examination of one’s conscience, sécurité, the courage of truth, illégalismes, juridical forms, governing through truth, the “punitive society,” truth-telling, judicial apparatuses of repression, the Nu-pieds rebellions of 1639, parrhesia … Michel Foucault’s thirteen years of lectures at the Collège de France introduced us to new concepts and novel research avenues. For many of us, those avenues have been fertile ground for our own theorization, for others fertile ground for critique. They represent, as Foucault intended, rich and productive “pistes de recherches.”
With the publication of the entire series of lectures at the Collège de France—the last, Théories et institutions pénales (1971-1972) just released in May 2015—it is now time to read them chronologically: to grasp the overall project of those lectures at the Collège, to discuss the full trajectory, and to continue to excavate our own “pistes de recherche” building on Foucault’s.
The Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought and the Columbia Society of Fellows, with the support of the Maison Française, the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, and the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, are delighted to host 13 seminars on the 13 courses. The seminar series—Foucault 13/13—will extend over the full 2015-2016 academic year at Columbia University. The seminar series will be open to Columbia faculty, fellows, and students, as well as faculty and students from other New York universities.
Each seminar will be led by distinguished scholars from different disciplines. The seminars will take place on Monday evenings in the Fall semester (2015) and Thursday evenings in the Spring semester (2016) from 6:15pm to 8:45pm.
The seminars will be open to students and faculty from Columbia University and other New York universities (please bring university ID). Please RSVP at [list from Sundial, CU event listing place]. If you are interested in attending and would like a place reserved at the seminar table, please send an e-mail explaining your interest to Claire Merrill at cm3325@columbia.edu.
Event locations vary — please see event location for each seminar. The Columbia Maison Française is located on the Columbia campus in Buell Hall next to Low Library. The Heyman Center Common Room is located in the Heyman Center (in East Campus) on the second floor. The Hispanic Institute for Latin American and Iberian Cultures (Casa Hispanica) is located at 612 West 116th Street. A campus map of Columbia University is here.
Seminar Series Schedule: Foucault 13/13
Monday, September 14, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Lessons on the Will to Know (1970-1971)
James Faubion, Rice University
and Nancy Luxon, University of Minnesota
Maison Française
***
Monday, September 28, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Penal Theories and Institutions (1971-1972)
Etienne Balibar, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre & Columbia University
and François Ewald, Series Editor of Foucault’s Collège de France Lectures
Casa Hispánica
***
Monday, October 12, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Punitive Society (1972-1973)
Didier Fassin, Institute for Advanced Studies (Princeton) & EHESS,
Axel Honneth, University of Frankfurt & Columbia University, and
Nadia Urbinati, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, October 26, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Psychiatric Power (1973-1974)
Linda Zerilli, University of Chicago,
Anna Lvovsky, Columbia University, and
Alondra Nelson, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, November 16, 2015, 7:00 to 9:00pm
Abnormal (1974-1975)
Veena Das, Johns Hopkins University,
Pierre Rosanvallon, Collège de France, Paris, and
Emmanuelle Saada, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Monday, November 23, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
“Society must be defended” (1975-1976)
Ann Stoler, The New School,
Partha Chatterjee, Columbia University, and
Robert Gooding-Williams, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, December 7, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Security, Territory, Population (1977-1978)
Seyla Benhabib, Yale University,
Jeremy Kessler, Columbia University, and
Adam Tooze, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, January 28, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Birth of Biopolitics (1978-1979)
Nancy Fraser, The New School
and Kendall Thomas, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, February 11, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Government of the Living (1979-1980)
Achille Mbembe, University of the Witwatersrand,
Daniele Lorenzini, Université Paris-Est Créteil, and
Jean Cohen, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, February 25, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Subjectivity and Truth (1980-1981)
Judith Butler, University of California Berkeley,
Katherine Franke, Columbia University, and
Stathis Gourgouris, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, March 10, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Hermeneutics of the Subject (1981-1982)
Homi Bhabha, Harvard University,
Paul Rabinow, University of California Berkeley, and
Lydia Liu, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, March 31, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Government of Self and Others (1982-1983)
Judith Revel, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre,
Sharon Marcus, Columbia University, and
John Rajchman, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, April 14, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Courage of Truth (1983-1984)
Frederic Gros, Sciences Po,
Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University, and
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University
Casa Hispánica
***
All sessions moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco
We are excited to share with you our upcoming lineup of speakers:
February 26: Joshua Mason (West Chester University)
March 18: Harvey Lederman (NYU)
April 8: Shigenori Nagatomo (Temple University)
April 29: Sara McClintock (Emory University)
We will provide more information regarding the topic of each speaker’s
presentation as the semester progresses. We hope to see you all at what
promises to be a semester of discussion and engagement.
Reading the Foucault Collège de France Lectures with
Seyla Benhabib, Homi Bhabha, Judith Butler, Veena Das, François Ewald, Didier Fassin, James Faubion, Nancy Fraser, Frédéric Gros, Daniele Lorenzini, Nancy Luxon, Achille Mbembe, Paul Rabinow, Judith Revel, Pierre Rosanvallon, Ann Stoler, and Linda Zerilli
in conversation with Columbia University colleagues
Etienne Balibar, Partha Chatterjee, Jean Cohen, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Katherine Franke, Robert Gooding-Williams, Stathis Gourgouris, Axel Honneth, Jeremy Kessler, Lydia Liu, Anna Lvovsky, Sharon Marcus, Alondra Nelson, John Rajchman, Emmanuelle Saada, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Kendall Thomas, Adam Tooze, and Nadia Urbinati
Moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco
Race war, biopolitics, the hermeneutics of the self, governmentality, the examination of one’s conscience, sécurité, the courage of truth, illégalismes, juridical forms, governing through truth, the “punitive society,” truth-telling, judicial apparatuses of repression, the Nu-pieds rebellions of 1639, parrhesia … Michel Foucault’s thirteen years of lectures at the Collège de France introduced us to new concepts and novel research avenues. For many of us, those avenues have been fertile ground for our own theorization, for others fertile ground for critique. They represent, as Foucault intended, rich and productive “pistes de recherches.”
With the publication of the entire series of lectures at the Collège de France—the last, Théories et institutions pénales (1971-1972) just released in May 2015—it is now time to read them chronologically: to grasp the overall project of those lectures at the Collège, to discuss the full trajectory, and to continue to excavate our own “pistes de recherche” building on Foucault’s.
The Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought and the Columbia Society of Fellows, with the support of the Maison Française, the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, and the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, are delighted to host 13 seminars on the 13 courses. The seminar series—Foucault 13/13—will extend over the full 2015-2016 academic year at Columbia University. The seminar series will be open to Columbia faculty, fellows, and students, as well as faculty and students from other New York universities.
Each seminar will be led by distinguished scholars from different disciplines. The seminars will take place on Monday evenings in the Fall semester (2015) and Thursday evenings in the Spring semester (2016) from 6:15pm to 8:45pm.
The seminars will be open to students and faculty from Columbia University and other New York universities (please bring university ID). Please RSVP at [list from Sundial, CU event listing place]. If you are interested in attending and would like a place reserved at the seminar table, please send an e-mail explaining your interest to Claire Merrill at cm3325@columbia.edu.
Event locations vary — please see event location for each seminar. The Columbia Maison Française is located on the Columbia campus in Buell Hall next to Low Library. The Heyman Center Common Room is located in the Heyman Center (in East Campus) on the second floor. The Hispanic Institute for Latin American and Iberian Cultures (Casa Hispanica) is located at 612 West 116th Street. A campus map of Columbia University is here.
Seminar Series Schedule: Foucault 13/13
Monday, September 14, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Lessons on the Will to Know (1970-1971)
James Faubion, Rice University
and Nancy Luxon, University of Minnesota
Maison Française
***
Monday, September 28, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Penal Theories and Institutions (1971-1972)
Etienne Balibar, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre & Columbia University
and François Ewald, Series Editor of Foucault’s Collège de France Lectures
Casa Hispánica
***
Monday, October 12, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Punitive Society (1972-1973)
Didier Fassin, Institute for Advanced Studies (Princeton) & EHESS,
Axel Honneth, University of Frankfurt & Columbia University, and
Nadia Urbinati, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, October 26, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Psychiatric Power (1973-1974)
Linda Zerilli, University of Chicago,
Anna Lvovsky, Columbia University, and
Alondra Nelson, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, November 16, 2015, 7:00 to 9:00pm
Abnormal (1974-1975)
Veena Das, Johns Hopkins University,
Pierre Rosanvallon, Collège de France, Paris, and
Emmanuelle Saada, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Monday, November 23, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
“Society must be defended” (1975-1976)
Ann Stoler, The New School,
Partha Chatterjee, Columbia University, and
Robert Gooding-Williams, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, December 7, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Security, Territory, Population (1977-1978)
Seyla Benhabib, Yale University,
Jeremy Kessler, Columbia University, and
Adam Tooze, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, January 28, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Birth of Biopolitics (1978-1979)
Nancy Fraser, The New School
and Kendall Thomas, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, February 11, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Government of the Living (1979-1980)
Achille Mbembe, University of the Witwatersrand,
Daniele Lorenzini, Université Paris-Est Créteil, and
Jean Cohen, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, February 25, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Subjectivity and Truth (1980-1981)
Judith Butler, University of California Berkeley,
Katherine Franke, Columbia University, and
Stathis Gourgouris, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, March 10, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Hermeneutics of the Subject (1981-1982)
Homi Bhabha, Harvard University,
Paul Rabinow, University of California Berkeley, and
Lydia Liu, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, March 31, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Government of Self and Others (1982-1983)
Judith Revel, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre,
Sharon Marcus, Columbia University, and
John Rajchman, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, April 14, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Courage of Truth (1983-1984)
Frederic Gros, Sciences Po,
Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University, and
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University
Casa Hispánica
***
All sessions moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco
SHIGENORI NAGATOMO (Temple University)
With responses from:
GRAHAM PRIEST (CUNY Graduate Center)
Please join us at Columbia University’s Religion Department on FRIDAY, APRIL 8th at 5:30PM for his lecture entitled:
“The Logic of Not: An Invitation to an Holistic Mode of Thinking”
This presentation extends an invitation to an holistic mode of understanding to those who are concerned with current global situations. It thematically deals with the logic that appears in the sutra called the Diamond Sutra which belongs to the prajñāpāaramitā literature of Mahayana Buddhism. This logic is called “logic of not” because a negation appears in the formulation of the idea of identity as is expressed in the following: “A is not A, therefore it is A.” This logic cuts against the grain of the assumptions which the mode of thinking predominant in the Western philosophical tradition accepts as its modus operandi, namely the conceptual paradigm of the “either-or ego-logical dualistic standpoint.” This presentation argues that this paradigm generates a problem of fragmentation, which we take to be the root of many of the problems we face today, by analyzing the phrases such as “either-or,” “dualistic” and “ego-logical.” It then turns to an analysis of “the logic of not” by showing how it differs from Aristotle’s logic, while providing the philosophical reasons why the Diamond Sutra formulates its understanding of reality in terms of “the logic of not.” With this clarification, the presentation discusses how a transparency of mind and the idea of interdependency are necessary for achieving an holistic perspective, i.e., to understand things holistically. This mode of thinking will be effective to correct the problem of fragmentation, for example, in dealing with such topics as I knowing myself, the I-thou relationship, and environmental concerns.
…
April 29: Sara McClintock (Emory University)
We will provide more information regarding the topic of each speaker’s
presentation as the semester progresses. We hope to see you all at what
promises to be a semester of discussion and engagement.
Reading the Foucault Collège de France Lectures with
Seyla Benhabib, Homi Bhabha, Judith Butler, Veena Das, François Ewald, Didier Fassin, James Faubion, Nancy Fraser, Frédéric Gros, Daniele Lorenzini, Nancy Luxon, Achille Mbembe, Paul Rabinow, Judith Revel, Pierre Rosanvallon, Ann Stoler, and Linda Zerilli
in conversation with Columbia University colleagues
Etienne Balibar, Partha Chatterjee, Jean Cohen, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Katherine Franke, Robert Gooding-Williams, Stathis Gourgouris, Axel Honneth, Jeremy Kessler, Lydia Liu, Anna Lvovsky, Sharon Marcus, Alondra Nelson, John Rajchman, Emmanuelle Saada, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Kendall Thomas, Adam Tooze, and Nadia Urbinati
Moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco
Race war, biopolitics, the hermeneutics of the self, governmentality, the examination of one’s conscience, sécurité, the courage of truth, illégalismes, juridical forms, governing through truth, the “punitive society,” truth-telling, judicial apparatuses of repression, the Nu-pieds rebellions of 1639, parrhesia … Michel Foucault’s thirteen years of lectures at the Collège de France introduced us to new concepts and novel research avenues. For many of us, those avenues have been fertile ground for our own theorization, for others fertile ground for critique. They represent, as Foucault intended, rich and productive “pistes de recherches.”
With the publication of the entire series of lectures at the Collège de France—the last, Théories et institutions pénales (1971-1972) just released in May 2015—it is now time to read them chronologically: to grasp the overall project of those lectures at the Collège, to discuss the full trajectory, and to continue to excavate our own “pistes de recherche” building on Foucault’s.
The Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought and the Columbia Society of Fellows, with the support of the Maison Française, the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, and the Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, are delighted to host 13 seminars on the 13 courses. The seminar series—Foucault 13/13—will extend over the full 2015-2016 academic year at Columbia University. The seminar series will be open to Columbia faculty, fellows, and students, as well as faculty and students from other New York universities.
Each seminar will be led by distinguished scholars from different disciplines. The seminars will take place on Monday evenings in the Fall semester (2015) and Thursday evenings in the Spring semester (2016) from 6:15pm to 8:45pm.
The seminars will be open to students and faculty from Columbia University and other New York universities (please bring university ID). Please RSVP at [list from Sundial, CU event listing place]. If you are interested in attending and would like a place reserved at the seminar table, please send an e-mail explaining your interest to Claire Merrill at cm3325@columbia.edu.
Event locations vary — please see event location for each seminar. The Columbia Maison Française is located on the Columbia campus in Buell Hall next to Low Library. The Heyman Center Common Room is located in the Heyman Center (in East Campus) on the second floor. The Hispanic Institute for Latin American and Iberian Cultures (Casa Hispanica) is located at 612 West 116th Street. A campus map of Columbia University is here.
Seminar Series Schedule: Foucault 13/13
Monday, September 14, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Lessons on the Will to Know (1970-1971)
James Faubion, Rice University
and Nancy Luxon, University of Minnesota
Maison Française
***
Monday, September 28, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Penal Theories and Institutions (1971-1972)
Etienne Balibar, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre & Columbia University
and François Ewald, Series Editor of Foucault’s Collège de France Lectures
Casa Hispánica
***
Monday, October 12, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Punitive Society (1972-1973)
Didier Fassin, Institute for Advanced Studies (Princeton) & EHESS,
Axel Honneth, University of Frankfurt & Columbia University, and
Nadia Urbinati, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, October 26, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Psychiatric Power (1973-1974)
Linda Zerilli, University of Chicago,
Anna Lvovsky, Columbia University, and
Alondra Nelson, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, November 16, 2015, 7:00 to 9:00pm
Abnormal (1974-1975)
Veena Das, Johns Hopkins University,
Pierre Rosanvallon, Collège de France, Paris, and
Emmanuelle Saada, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Monday, November 23, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
“Society must be defended” (1975-1976)
Ann Stoler, The New School,
Partha Chatterjee, Columbia University, and
Robert Gooding-Williams, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Monday, December 7, 2015, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Security, Territory, Population (1977-1978)
Seyla Benhabib, Yale University,
Jeremy Kessler, Columbia University, and
Adam Tooze, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, January 28, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Birth of Biopolitics (1978-1979)
Nancy Fraser, The New School
and Kendall Thomas, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, February 11, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Government of the Living (1979-1980)
Achille Mbembe, University of the Witwatersrand,
Daniele Lorenzini, Université Paris-Est Créteil, and
Jean Cohen, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, February 25, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
Subjectivity and Truth (1980-1981)
Judith Butler, University of California Berkeley,
Katherine Franke, Columbia University, and
Stathis Gourgouris, Columbia University
Maison Française
***
Thursday, March 10, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Hermeneutics of the Subject (1981-1982)
Homi Bhabha, Harvard University,
Paul Rabinow, University of California Berkeley, and
Lydia Liu, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, March 31, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Government of Self and Others (1982-1983)
Judith Revel, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre,
Sharon Marcus, Columbia University, and
John Rajchman, Columbia University
Heyman Center Common Room
***
Thursday, April 14, 2016, 6:15 to 8:45pm
The Courage of Truth (1983-1984)
Frederic Gros, Sciences Po,
Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University, and
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University
Casa Hispánica
***
All sessions moderated by Bernard E. Harcourt and Jesús R. Velasco
A panel discussion with Gayatri Spivak and invited guests
Event Location: Teatro, Italian Academy for Advanced Studies
This new release of Of Grammatology is a milestone in the history of an indispensable work of contemporary critical philosophy. In celebration, join us as we reflect on the importance of Jacques Derrida’s book with panelists:
Benjamin Conisbee Baer, Princeton University, Eduardo Cadava, Princeton University Mireille Calle-Gruber, Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Avital Ronell, New York University, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Columbia University
Featuring a performance by pianist and Columbia Scholar, Yohann Ripert.
Moderated by Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University.
No registration required. Seating is limited. First come, first seated.
Book Signing to Follow Event
Sponsored by: Barnard Center for Translation Studies, Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought, Columbia Global Centers, Department of Philosophy at Barnard, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Heyman Center for the Humanities, Italian Academy for Advanced Studies, Institute of African Studies, Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Department of French and Romance Philology, Johns Hopkins Press, Maison Française, Office of the Dean of Humanities, and South Asia Institute.
THE COLUMBIA SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Welcomes:
SARA MCCLINTOCK (Emory University)
With responses from:
THOMAS A. LEWIS (Brown University)
Please join us at Columbia University’s Religion Department on FRIDAY, APRIL 29th at 5:30PM for her lecture entitled:
“Rehabilitating the Conventional via the Transactional: An Experiment in Madhyamaka Thought Inspired by Kamalaśīla”
Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy is renowned for its theory of two truths (satya-dvaya), typically represented in English as conventional truth (saṃvṛti-satya) and ultimate truth (paramārtha-satya). The ultimate truth is that all things are empty (śūnya) of any intrinsic nature (svabhāva), while the conventional truth refers to the misleading yet nevertheless useful “truths” according to which people function in the world. Nāgārjuna, the father of Madhyamaka thought, famously explains that without relying on the conventional truth, the ultimate truth cannot be revealed. Scholarly work on Madhyamaka has long shown a fascination with emptiness, the ultimate truth, while interest in the conventional truth has been comparatively meager. This is starting to change. In a recent volume, a collective of scholars calling themselves the Cowherds has argued for the importance of conventional truth and for the need both to take it seriously and to get it right. In this paper, I offer a new way of thinking about conventional truth inspired by my reading of the works of Kamalaśīla, an eighth-century Madhyamaka polymath, who is known for taking conventional truth extremely seriously. In this talk, I will consider some elements of Kamalaśīla’s approach to conventional truth, arguing that, along with his teacher Śāntarakṣita, he offers tools for rehabilitating the conventional through an emphasis on the complex material, discursive, and ideational transactions (vyavahāra) that together create the conditions for truth. Considering Kamalaśīla’s approach to the problem of intrinsic nature (svabhāva) for the production of conventional truth, I show that for Kamalaśīla such truth is best understood as deeply transactional in nature. Shifting from a discourse of truth to one of reality, we see that conventional truth is itself a transactional reality, and as such can never be stable but must constantly arise anew. I close with some reflections on how Kamalaśīla’s transactional approach to the conventional may offer Madhyamaka greater potential for interchange with science (via enactive theories of cognition for example) and philosophy (via the theories of thinkers like Dewey and Foucault). Whether Kamalaśīla gets the conventional right or not, my goal in this talk is to begin to reveal his perspective as an alternate to the more typical theories of the conventional truth—theories that generally ignore the non-discursive conditions of conventional truth—in current Madhyamaka scholarship.
FRIDAY, APRIL 29
5:30-7:30 pm
Rm. 101, 80 Claremont Ave, Columbia University
PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
The paper follows and elaborates on a line of argument in my book The Confucian Political Imagination, which was published by Palgrave Macmillan this summer. I do not address the main argument of the book, but sum up a line of thought that has gradually taken form since I began to read Confucian texts. I explain what I learned about reading Confucianism from my teacher Tu Weiming, and why I could not follow the philosophical turn in American Confucian studies. I point to the importance of reading in an emphatic sense, and argue that the philosophical approaches to Confucian texts often leads to an impoverished reading of these texts. Then I provide my own suggestions towards a definition Confucian discourse. I briefly point to the historical reasons Confucian discourse is not philosophy, and finally I ask if all this really matters.
THE COLUMBIA SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Welcomes:
Eske Møllgaard (University of Rhode Island)
With a response from:
Andrew Lambert (College of Staten Island, CUNY)