Calendar

Tentative Schedule for MAPS, 2016 Spring (more details soon):

Feb 23. 4:10-6:00pm @ Columbia University. Jacob Barandes and David Kagan (Harvard). Topic: Foundations of Quantum Mechanics.

Abstract: The language of random variables makes possible a formal analogy between classical probability theory and quantum theory that better highlights their key similarities and differences. I’ll use this formulation to clarify the underlying problems that have long obstructed the development of a satisfactory interpretation of quantum theory, suggest changes in how we introduce students to quantum theory, discuss important new requirements for future work on quantum foundations, provide a helpful classification scheme for the various prominent interpretations, and motivate a novel “minimal” modal interpretation. This new interpretation is minimal in the sense that its fundamental ingredients are only those that either have clear counterparts in classical physics or are familiar from the traditional formulation of quantum theory. I’ll explain how the minimal modal interpretation provides every quantum system with both a definite ontology as well as approximate ontological dynamics ensuring the stability of that ontology through time, whether the system is closed or open and whether the system is in a pure state or in a highly entangled improper mixture. The rules governing the ontological dynamics are based on a class of newly discovered quantum conditional probabilities whose detailed properties I will discuss in depth. I’ll conclude with a summary of open questions and implications for issues of importance to the philosophy of physics.

Mar 22. 4:30-6:30pm @ NYU.  Laura Franklin-Hall (NYU). Topic: TBA.

Apr 26. 4:30-6:30pm @ NYU.  Lev Vaidman (Tel Aviv). Topic: Many-Worlds QM.

May 3. 5-7pm @ Columbia.  Collin Rice (Lycoming). Topic: TBA.

May 10. 3:00-6:30pm @ NYU.  Mini Workshop on Philosophy of Physics: (1) Elizabeth Miller (Yale) & Ned Hall (Harvard), and (2) Angelo Bassi (Trieste).  Topics: TBA.

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 116^th 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

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 116^th 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

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 116^th 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

Casey McCoy, Department of Philosophy, UCSD

Date: Tuesday, April 5

Time: 4:00-6:00 pm  

Location: Room 716, Department of Philosophy, Columbia University

Physicists and philosophers have occasionally advanced arguments concerning the probabilities of possible universes. Although it may seem dubious to treat the entire universe as a random event, an appealing approach to justifying and interpreting cosmological probabilities is to extrapolate successful applications of probability in physics, such as statistical mechanics, to the universe. I argue, however, that adapting successful strategies in statistical mechanics to cosmology runs aground on several serious problems. I examine in particular two cases: adding probabilities to general relativity and treating the universe as a statistical mechanical system.

There will be a dinner after the talk. If you are interested, please send an email with “Dinner” in the heading to nyphilsci@gmail.com as soon as possible so that I can make the reservation for the appropriate number of people (please note that all faculty and grad students are welcome, but only the speaker’s dinner will be covered). If you have any other questions, please email eddy.chen@rutgers.edu

——————————————–

Upcoming talks at Metro Area Philosophy of Science:

Apr 12. 4:30-6:30pm @ NYU Silver 621.  Laura Franklin-Hall (NYU). Topic: TBA. 

Apr 26. 4:30-6:30pm @ NYU Silver 621.  Lev Vaidman (Tel Aviv). Topic: Many-Worlds QM.  

[Cancelled] May 3. 5-7pm @ Columbia.  Collin Rice (Lycoming). Topic: TBA. 

May 10. 3:00-6:30pm @ NYU location TBA.  Mini Workshop on Philosophy of Physics: (1) Elizabeth Miller (Yale) & Ned Hall (Harvard), and (2) Angelo Bassi (Trieste).  Topics: TBA. 

I’ll also post updates and info on this website; Massimo Pigliucci (CUNY) has been managing the MAPS Facebook page. 

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 116^th 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

Abstract: conventional wisdom holds that since the advent of the first full theories of quantum mechanics in the mid-1920s, the Copenhagen interpretation has been the default interpretation of quantum mechanics, and has enjoyed the support of a majority of physicists ever since. This is not the case. While it is indeed true that a majority of physicists have long professed that they subscribe to the Copenhagen interpretation, the plain fact of the matter is that there is no single coherent position known as the Copenhagen interpretation, nor has there ever been one. Moreover, none of the positions that go by the name “Copenhagen interpretation” do a good job of solving the measurement problem, the central interpretive problem at the heart of quantum foundations. Nor do they evade the nonlocality that is dictated by Bell’s theorem. In this talk, I will give an overview of the history of the Copenhagen interpretation from 1926 to the present, explain its multiple inconsistencies and failures, and attempt an answer at a persistent puzzle: why does the Copenhagen interpretation remain popular among physicists despite its manifest flaws and the existence of multiple superior alternatives

About the speaker: Adam Becker is the author of What is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics. He has a PhD in physics from the University of Michigan and he is the recipient of an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Book Grant. He is currently a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley’s Office for History of Science and Technology.

Contrary to Damien Keown (2001), who worries that metaphysical and epistemological inquiry may distract from ethical investigation, Bronwyn Finnigan and Koji Tanaka (2008) argue such questions may provide grounding for practical application of a Buddhist ethical path. I follow this line of inquiry into Buddhist theories of truth in order to better understand right speech as conceived in the Early Buddhist Suttas. I focus on what the Abhaya Sutta explicitly instructs and what it leaves out regarding the types of words the Tathagata does not say or has a sense of the proper time for saying them. K. N. Jayatilleke (1963) and Mark Siderits (1979) provide convincing evidence that contrary to popular characterizations of the

 Buddhist theory of truth as pragmatic, Early Buddhist Suttas rest on some form of correspondence theory of truth. Siderits shows that at the very least, there is an uneasy tension between correspondence and pragmatic theories. I contrast their position with Francisca Cho and Richard K. Squier’s (2016) argument describing the Buddhist theory of truth as pragmatic based on the use of language and lies. I supplement Cho and Squier with Jonathan Silk’s (2008) work on truth and lies in Buddhist texts in order to argue that there may be an impasse on adjudicating Buddhist theories of truth.

With a response from:

Mark Siderits (Emeritus, Illinois State University)

The Columbia Society for Comparative Philosophy (CSCP) is a University Seminar dedicated to the advancement of projects that draw on both western and non-western philosophy. The CSCP meets monthly on the campus of Columbia University and occasionally hosts conferences.

Please save the following dates for our upcoming talks:

March 30: Kin Cheung (Moravian College)

April 13: Lara Braitstein (McGill University)

May 11: David Cummiskey (Bates College)

I argue that we do not understand gauge theory as well as we think we do, when boundaries are present. I will briefly explain the conceptual and technical issues that arise at the boundary. I will then propose a tentative resolution, which requires us to think of theories not in space-time, but in field-space.