David Kishik (Emerson College), Dr Zed Adams (New School for Social Research)
Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project, Joe Gould’s Oral History of Our Time, and Joseph Mitchell’s memoir each existed more in their respective author’s imagination than on the written page. In this Friday evening event, David Kishik will discuss the significance of such imaginary literary works for his own Manhattan Project (Stanford, 2015), which draws upon Benjamin, Gould, Mitchell, and others to develop a theory of Manahattan as the capital of the twentieth century. At the event, Kishik will be introduced and interviewed by New School faculty member Zed Adams.
Free and open to the public | ID required
Burning Issues in African Philosophy builds off of the sophisticated work that has now become part of an international conversation on how African philosophy makes unique interventions into almost every important question of politics, ethics, aesthetics, ontology and epistemology. Indeed, the very definition of these fundamental philosophical conceptions is both challenged and enriched. In this way, African philosophy is not only crucial in understanding what constitutes its uniqueness but also in providing us with new and innovative ways to think about some of the most burning issues of our time as far reaching as what is the meaning of being human to how we can effectively challenge climate change. The aim of this seminar then is not simply to bring some of the most important African philosophers to participate so that their work can be known, but perhaps more importantly that they can bring African philosophy into the political and ethical debates about what it might mean to have a more just future. The series begins by challenging the conventional Afro-pessimistic view of time as being unable to organize a future perspective that would allow for adequate industrialization and development. If time is what happens inseparable from events, this does not mean that there is no future in African philosophy. What it means is that there is no future that can be foreclosed or known in advance and thus possibilities for the future remain open. It is therefore up to our actions to bring about the future that we want.
All Seminars are held on Wednesday evening (7-9PM) in the Heyman Common Room.
Wednesday September 28, 2016, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University
Discussant: Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday November 2, 2016, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Michael Monahan, Marquette University
Discussant: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University and Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday January 25, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Nkiru Nzegwu, SUNY-Binghampton
Discussant: Doug Ficek, University of New Haven
Location: 208 Knox Hall
Wednesday February 22, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Olufemi Taiwo, Cornell University
Discussant: Jane Gordon, University of Connecticut-Storrs
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday March 8, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Nadia Yala Kisukidi, Univeriste Paris 8
Discussant: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University
Location: 208 Knox Hall
Wednesday April 19, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Lewis Gordon, University of Connecticut-Storrs
Discussants: Max Hantel, Dartmouth College and Hamid Dabashi, Columbia University
Location: Heyman Common Room
This series is made possible by financial support from the Provost Office and Arts & Sciences at Columbia University and the Partnership University Fund (PUF) of the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE). The venue for this series is provided by the Heyman Center for Humanities.
The Ink of the Scholars: Reflections on Philosophy in Africa
Souleymane Bachir Diagne, in discussion with Gary Wilder and Mamadou Diouf
To RSVP, please click here.
*Please note that this event will take place in Common Room, Heyman Center, on Columbia’s East Campus. For a map, please click here.
Souleymane Bachir Diagne talks about his book, The Ink of the Scholars: Reflections on Philosophy in Africa, recently translated into English, in a panel discussion with Gary Wilder and Mamadou Diouf.
Souleymane Bachir Diagne is a Professor of Philosophy and French and the Chair of the Department of French at Columbia University. His areas of expertise include history of logic, history of philosophy, Islamic philosophy, and African philosophy and literature. Mamadou Diouf is a Professor of History and African Studies at Columbia. Gary Wilder is Associate Professor of Anthropology at CUNY.
This event is co-sponsored by the Heyman Center for the Humanities and the Maison Française.
Free and open to the public | ID required
Burning Issues in African Philosophy builds off of the sophisticated work that has now become part of an international conversation on how African philosophy makes unique interventions into almost every important question of politics, ethics, aesthetics, ontology and epistemology. Indeed, the very definition of these fundamental philosophical conceptions is both challenged and enriched. In this way, African philosophy is not only crucial in understanding what constitutes its uniqueness but also in providing us with new and innovative ways to think about some of the most burning issues of our time as far reaching as what is the meaning of being human to how we can effectively challenge climate change. The aim of this seminar then is not simply to bring some of the most important African philosophers to participate so that their work can be known, but perhaps more importantly that they can bring African philosophy into the political and ethical debates about what it might mean to have a more just future. The series begins by challenging the conventional Afro-pessimistic view of time as being unable to organize a future perspective that would allow for adequate industrialization and development. If time is what happens inseparable from events, this does not mean that there is no future in African philosophy. What it means is that there is no future that can be foreclosed or known in advance and thus possibilities for the future remain open. It is therefore up to our actions to bring about the future that we want.
All Seminars are held on Wednesday evening (7-9PM) in the Heyman Common Room.
Wednesday September 28, 2016, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University
Discussant: Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday November 2, 2016, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Michael Monahan, Marquette University
Discussant: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University and Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday January 25, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Nkiru Nzegwu, SUNY-Binghampton
Discussant: Doug Ficek, University of New Haven
Location: 208 Knox Hall
Wednesday February 22, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Olufemi Taiwo, Cornell University
Discussant: Jane Gordon, University of Connecticut-Storrs
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday March 8, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Nadia Yala Kisukidi, Univeriste Paris 8
Discussant: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University
Location: 208 Knox Hall
Wednesday April 19, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Lewis Gordon, University of Connecticut-Storrs
Discussants: Max Hantel, Dartmouth College and Hamid Dabashi, Columbia University
Location: Heyman Common Room
This series is made possible by financial support from the Provost Office and Arts & Sciences at Columbia University and the Partnership University Fund (PUF) of the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE). The venue for this series is provided by the Heyman Center for Humanities.
Free and open to the public | ID required
Burning Issues in African Philosophy builds off of the sophisticated work that has now become part of an international conversation on how African philosophy makes unique interventions into almost every important question of politics, ethics, aesthetics, ontology and epistemology. Indeed, the very definition of these fundamental philosophical conceptions is both challenged and enriched. In this way, African philosophy is not only crucial in understanding what constitutes its uniqueness but also in providing us with new and innovative ways to think about some of the most burning issues of our time as far reaching as what is the meaning of being human to how we can effectively challenge climate change. The aim of this seminar then is not simply to bring some of the most important African philosophers to participate so that their work can be known, but perhaps more importantly that they can bring African philosophy into the political and ethical debates about what it might mean to have a more just future. The series begins by challenging the conventional Afro-pessimistic view of time as being unable to organize a future perspective that would allow for adequate industrialization and development. If time is what happens inseparable from events, this does not mean that there is no future in African philosophy. What it means is that there is no future that can be foreclosed or known in advance and thus possibilities for the future remain open. It is therefore up to our actions to bring about the future that we want.
All Seminars are held on Wednesday evening (7-9PM) in the Heyman Common Room.
Wednesday September 28, 2016, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University
Discussant: Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday November 2, 2016, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Michael Monahan, Marquette University
Discussant: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University and Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday January 25, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Nkiru Nzegwu, SUNY-Binghampton
Discussant: Doug Ficek, University of New Haven
Location: 208 Knox Hall
Wednesday February 22, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Olufemi Taiwo, Cornell University
Discussant: Jane Gordon, University of Connecticut-Storrs
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday March 8, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Nadia Yala Kisukidi, Univeriste Paris 8
Discussant: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University
Location: 208 Knox Hall
Wednesday April 19, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Lewis Gordon, University of Connecticut-Storrs
Discussants: Max Hantel, Dartmouth College and Hamid Dabashi, Columbia University
Location: Heyman Common Room
This series is made possible by financial support from the Provost Office and Arts & Sciences at Columbia University and the Partnership University Fund (PUF) of the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE). The venue for this series is provided by the Heyman Center for Humanities.
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.
Free and open to the public | ID required
Burning Issues in African Philosophy builds off of the sophisticated work that has now become part of an international conversation on how African philosophy makes unique interventions into almost every important question of politics, ethics, aesthetics, ontology and epistemology. Indeed, the very definition of these fundamental philosophical conceptions is both challenged and enriched. In this way, African philosophy is not only crucial in understanding what constitutes its uniqueness but also in providing us with new and innovative ways to think about some of the most burning issues of our time as far reaching as what is the meaning of being human to how we can effectively challenge climate change. The aim of this seminar then is not simply to bring some of the most important African philosophers to participate so that their work can be known, but perhaps more importantly that they can bring African philosophy into the political and ethical debates about what it might mean to have a more just future. The series begins by challenging the conventional Afro-pessimistic view of time as being unable to organize a future perspective that would allow for adequate industrialization and development. If time is what happens inseparable from events, this does not mean that there is no future in African philosophy. What it means is that there is no future that can be foreclosed or known in advance and thus possibilities for the future remain open. It is therefore up to our actions to bring about the future that we want.
All Seminars are held on Wednesday evening (7-9PM) in the Heyman Common Room.
Wednesday September 28, 2016, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University
Discussant: Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday November 2, 2016, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Michael Monahan, Marquette University
Discussant: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University and Drucilla Cornell, Rutgers University
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday January 25, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Nkiru Nzegwu, SUNY-Binghampton
Discussant: Doug Ficek, University of New Haven
Location: 208 Knox Hall
Wednesday February 22, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Olufemi Taiwo, Cornell University
Discussant: Jane Gordon, University of Connecticut-Storrs
Location: Heyman Common Room
Wednesday March 8, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Nadia Yala Kisukidi, Univeriste Paris 8
Discussant: Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Columbia University
Location: 208 Knox Hall
Wednesday April 19, 2017, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm
Presenter: Lewis Gordon, University of Connecticut-Storrs
Discussants: Max Hantel, Dartmouth College and Hamid Dabashi, Columbia University
Location: Heyman Common Room
This series is made possible by financial support from the Provost Office and Arts & Sciences at Columbia University and the Partnership University Fund (PUF) of the French American Cultural Exchange (FACE). The venue for this series is provided by the Heyman Center for Humanities.
Even though ancient philosophy and rhetoric have many overlapping interests (education, persuasion, politics, etc.), their relationship has long been a contentious subject, especially among ancient philosophers. Contemporary scholarship on the topic is equally divided: philosophers tend to approach the topic primarily through the works of Plato and Aristotle and regard rhetoric (and rhetorical compositions) as a second-rate notion/discipline which has little interest in shedding light on philosophically relevant questions about human nature and society, whereas classicists research oratorical compositions to get a better understanding of Greek prose style, historical details and context, but often shy away from philosophical questions that the texts might hint at. This workshop aims to bring together scholars working on ancient rhetoric and argumentative techniques on the one hand, and scholars working on ancient philosophy, on the other in order to open up a space for a constructive engagement with philosophy/rhetoric, one which might enrich our understanding of ancient texts as well as the context in which they were produced.
Confirmed speakers: Jamie Dow (Leeds), Richard Hunter (Cambridge), Joel Mann (St Norbert), Jessica Moss (NYU), Usha Nathan (Columbia), James Porter (Berkeley), Edward Schiappa (MIT), Nancy Worman (Barnard). All papers will be followed by a response and general discussion.
Attending the workshop is free, but in order to have an idea of numbers it would be greatly appreciated if those interested in participating in the event would email the organizers, Laura Viidebaum and Toomas Lott.
This Workshop is generously sponsored by the Department of Philosophy (NYU), Department of Classics (NYU) and NYU Center for Ancient Studies.
The 2017 Departmental Faculty Lecture will be delivered by Prof. Giorgio Pini on September 12 at 4:30 pm in Flom Auditorium of the Walsh Family Library. The lecture is free and open to the public.
In a famous passage from Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Sextus Empiricus presents four different accounts of the conditional in increasing strength. Contemporary analogues have been identified (subject to various degrees of controversy) for the first three, but the last, which even fails to satisfy A>A, has proved elusive. In this talk, I discuss ways of modeling this heterodox conditional. Taking a cue from Sextus, I regard the characteristic feature of this conditional as one of proper (conceptual) containment and approach it using the framework of containment logic. Different implementations of this approach are discussed and evaluated both for their historical and technical merits. In the course of the talk, I will discuss (among other things) the relationship between Sextus’ third and fourth accounts, how Kripke semantics can be and has been used to deepen our understanding of various ancient conditionals, and how ancient notions of containment might yield interesting new (old) perspectives on contemporary containment logic.
Saul Kripke Center, Young Scholars Series: Yale Weiss, “Sextus Empiricus’ Fourth Conditional and Containment Logic”