Continental Philosophy

Radical Atheism: Derrida and the Time of Life (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics)

Description from the publisher’s website:

Radical Atheism presents a profound new reading of the influential French philosopher Jacques Derrida. Against the prevalent notion that there was an ethical or religious “turn” in Derrida’s thinking, Hägglund argues that a radical atheism informs Derrida’s work from beginning to end. Proceeding from Derrida’s insight into the constitution of time, Hägglund demonstrates how Derrida rethinks the condition of identity, ethics, religion, and political emancipation in accordance with the logic of radical atheism. Hägglund challenges other major interpreters of Derrida’s work and offers a compelling account of Derrida’s thinking on life and death, good and evil, self and other. Furthermore, Hägglund does not only explicate Derrida’s position but also develops his arguments, fortifies his logic, and pursues its implications. The result is a groundbreaking deconstruction of the perennial philosophical themes of time and desire as well as pressing contemporary issues of sovereignty and democracy.

SOCIETY FOR ETHICAL THEORY AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Northwestern University
Third Annual Conference
April 23–25, 2009

Keynote Addresses:
Samuel SCHEFFLER: “The Normativity of Tradition”
Seana SHIFFRIN: “Inducing Deliberation”

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
The deadline for submission is February 15, 2009. We welcome submissions from both faculty and graduate students, as some sessions will be reserved for graduate student presentations. Please submit an essay of approximately 4000 words and an abstract of not more than 150 words. Essay topics in all areas of ethical theory and political philosophy will be considered, although some priority will be given to essays that take up themes from the works of Samuel Scheffler and Seana Shiffrin (such as autonomy, distributive justice, legal philosophy, the morality of association, and responsibility).

Essays and abstracts should be prepared for blind review in word, rtf, or pdf format. Graduate submissions should be sent to leegoldsmith2012 [at] u.northwestern.edu; faculty submissions should be sent to garthoff [at] northwestern.edu.

Notices of acceptance will be distributed no later than March 31, 2009. For more information, please contact Jon Garthoff at the email address
above or visit the conference website

Autonomy, Reciprocity, and Responsibility: Darwall and Levinas on the Second Person, Michael D. Barber

Locke, Kierkegaard and the Phenomenology of Personal Identity, Patrick Stokes

Belief and Self-consciousness, David Hunter

Postmetaphysical Thinking or Refusal of Thought? Max Horkheimer’s Materialism as Philosophical Stance, J. C. Berendzen

Seebohm’s Hermeneutics and Gadamer, Robert Dostal

Schutz, Seebohm, and Cultural Science, Lester Embree

Seebohm, Husserl, and Dilthey, Thomas Nenon

Three Responses, Thomas M. Seebohm

Here

DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY 3RD ANNUAL GRADUATE PHILOSOPHY CONFERENCE:
WHY NIETZSCHE? WHICH NIETZSCHE?

KEYNOTE SPEAKER KATHLEEN HIGGINS
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
MARCH 28, 2009

In the more than 130 years since the publication of his first philosophical work, Friedrich Nietzsche has become one of the most talked about, debated, celebrated, appropriated, despised and (mis) interpreted philosophers in the history of philosophy. As we stand at the beginning of a new century, we wish to inquire into the continuing significance of Nietzsche’s thought for contemporary philosophical reflection. Following Foucault, we recognize that there are a multiplicity of “Nietscheanisms” and we welcome papers that speak to the question, “What serious use can Nietzsche be put to?” We also invite papers that explore Nietzsche’s contemporary relevance by asking, “Why turn to Nietzsche now?” and “Which Nietzsche should we turn to?” We encourage papers that ‘put Nietzsche to work’ for diverse and unexpected purposes, but also papers that are critical of Nietzsche’s usefulness in meeting the challenges of life and philosophy in the 21st century.

Possible topics include (but are not limited to): Nietzsche as precursor to phenomenology, Nietzsche and aesthetics, appropriations of Nietzsche by feminism and critical race theory, Nietzsche and the political, Nietzsche and laughter, Nietzsche and the history of philosophy, Nietzsche and the future of philosophy, Nietzsche and post-structuralism/post-modernism, Nietzsche and the textuality of the text. This conference has been organized by the Duquesne Graduate Students in Philosophy (GSIP), with support from Duquesne University Philosophy, and the Dean of the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts.

Submission Deadline: February 1 st 2009
Submission Guidelines:
• Submit papers by email to duquesneGSIP@gmail.com.
• All papers must be submitted in blind review format: papers should not include the author’s name or any other identifying information. All personal and contact information (with paper title) should be included in the body of the email.
• Papers should not exceed 3,000 words and should include an abstract of no more than 300 words.
• Papers must be in either Word or PDF electronic formats.
• For further information, questions, or problems with submissions contact Patrick Craig, at craigp@duq.edu .

Special Issue ‘Cornelius Castoriadis’. Thesis Eleven 49 (1997) http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=f…359ae25edd7d9a

College, Sex, & Philosophy

Robert Stewart and Michael Bruce (eds.)

Abstracts are sought for a new title in the Wiley-Blackwell series Philosophy for Everyone, under the general editorship of Fritz Allhoff.  As with previous titles now subsumed under the series—Wine & Philosophy, Beer & Philosophy, Food & Philosophy, and Running & Philosophy—College, Sex, & Philosophy will integrate the insights of philosophers, interdisciplinary academics such as sociologists and psychologists.  The abstracts and resulting selected papers should be written for an educated, but non-specialized, audience.

This edition would explore the philosophical issues concerning the sexual practices of college students, people roughly 18-23 years of age. This unique social space has many important issues that are can be investigated in a meaningful and assessable way, namely ethical issues of dating, cheating, courtship, pregnancy, homosexual experimentation, drug and alcohol use, and more as it pertains to the college framework. Essays will introduce philosophers and their arguments to the dilemmas with critical rigor, insight, and humor. Possible topics include:

Read the rest of this entry »

Noam Chomsky called for people to vote for Obama ‘without illusions’. I fully share Chomsky’s doubts about the real consequences of Obama’s victory: from a pragmatic perspective, it is quite possible that Obama will make only some minor improvements, turning out to be ‘Bush with a human face’. He will pursue the same basic policies in a more attractive way and thus effectively strengthen the US hegemony, damaged by the catastrophe of the Bush years.

There is nonetheless something deeply wrong with this reaction – a key dimension is missing from it. Obama’s victory is not just another shift in the eternal parliamentary struggle for a majority, with all the pragmatic calculations and manipulations that involves. It is a sign of something more. This is why an American friend of mine, a hardened leftist with no illusions, cried when the news came of Obama’s victory. Whatever our doubts, for that moment each of us was free and participating in the universal freedom of humanity.

The rest

TOC

‘I Like Your Colour!’ skin bleaching and geographies of race in urban Ghana – Jemima Pierre

why queer diaspora? – Meg Wesling

diasporic governmentality: on the gendered limits of migrant wage-labour in Portugal – Kesha Fikes

wal-mart, ‘katrina’, and other ideological tricks: Jamaican hotel workers in Michigan – Deborah A Thomas

engendering ‘race’ in calls for diasporic community in Sweden – Lena Sawyer

postcolonial criticism, transnational identifications and the hegemonies of dancehall’s academic and popular performativities – Denise Noble

the comic side of gender trouble and Bert Williams’ signature act – Michelle Ann Stephens

Obama’s victory marks a symbolically powerful moment in American history, defined as it is by the stain of slavery and the fact of racism. It will have hugely beneficial consequences for how the United States is seen throughout the world. His victory was also strategically brilliant and his campaign transformed those disillusioned with and disenfranchised by the Bush administration into a highly motivated and organized popular force. But I dispute that Obama’s victory is about change in any significant sense.

Continue reading

(h/t: Micah White)

On his own site, Terry Pinkard has a link to the pdf of his translation of the Phenomenology. It is bilingual, side by side.

Philosspher’s Zone:

Scapegoats and sacrifices – Rene Girard

Download Audio – 15112008

Have you ever found that you didn’t want something until you noticed that somebody else wanted it? Were you picked on at school, or were you one of the pickers on? Welcome to the world of the French thinker Rene Girard, who claims that desire needs to be learned and that, once learned, it leads to the finding of scapegoats. And what do we do with scapegoats? We sacrifice them.

–

In French, on Nietzsche’s correspondence.

Department of Philosophy

5th Annual

Philosophy Graduate Student Conference

The Sacred and the Secular:

Philosophy and Religion in the 21^st Century

February 20-21, 2009

Keynote Speaker: John D. Caputo, Syracuse University

The 5^th annual University of Memphis Philosophy Graduate Student Conference will be held February 20-21, 2009 in Memphis, Tennessee.

The conference will explore the relationship between philosophical and religious thought in the 21^st century. The question of “religion” has long been central to philosophy; every canonical figure in the history of philosophy—from Plato to Aristotle, Augustine to Ockham, Descartes to Kant, and Hegel to Derrida—has recognized the central significance of questions of faith. This legacy provides the contemporary philosopher with a unique opportunity: the hope of a world unified under “secular reason” is in question and religion has once again come to the forefront of political and academic controversy. Philosophers must now confront these challenges by offering perspectives utilizing the rich resources at our disposal.

We seek philosophical papers investigating and interrogating the difficult terrain of religion, politics, and ethics. Although this is certainly not an exhaustive list, here are some general topics to consider:

• Philosophical considerations related to onto-theology, political theology, or “weak theology.”
• Phenomenological, hermeneutic, and post-modern treatment of religious themes.
• Does “faith” play an active role in philosophical thought? Philosophy is often assumed to rest exclusively upon a foundation of reason, but what is to be made of the claim that philosophical premises such as the dignity of human life or irrefutable knowledge claims (to name a few) ultimately must be accepted on faith?
• The role of religion in politics and public life.
• Philosophical responses to religious violence since September 11^th.
• Historical analysis with contemporary relevance to any of these issues.

Deadline for submission of papers is January 3, 2009. Papers should not exceed twelve double-spaced pages. Papers should be prepared in Word and made suitable for blind review. Also, please provide a separate cover page which includes the following information: paper title; author name; university affiliation; email address; telephone number; abstract (200 words maximum). Title the attachment containing your paper with your paper’s title. Title the attachment containing your cover page with your last name followed by “cover page.” Email both files as separate attachments to Michael Burroughs (mdbrrghs@memphis.edu) or to Adam Lockridge (amlckrdg@memphis.edu).

For more information, please contact one of the following conference committee members: Michael Burroughs (mdbrrghs@memphis.edu), Adam Lockridge (amlckrdg@memphis.edu), Tim Golden (tjgolden@memphis.edu)

Derrida – The politics of friendship

(h/t: aadken)

An Introduction to Africana Philosophy (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy) begins, as any text with that or any similar title should, with a discussion of the difficulties of firmly fixing an accurate conception of Africana philosophy. It is Gordon’s aim to introduce Africana philosophy as a modern philosophy, where the modern period is inaugurated by the discovery of the “new world” and the institution of the Atlantic Slave Trade and continues on to the present. Gordon presents the reader with a veritable Who’s Who of intellectuals who have made some contribution to Africana philosophy from antiquity to the present day. The result is a comprehensive, yet nuanced, account of how and by whom central themes in Africana philosophy have originated and been developed over time throughout the diaspora. For the most part, Gordon’s book gives a comprehensive account of the wide ranging field of Africana philosophy while also providing a close look at its instantiations in particular thinkers and select geographic regions. Gordon makes an effort to pay attention to the emergence and development of central themes in various parts of the diaspora though, on the whole, the book is heavily weighted in favor of discussions of African American and Afro-Caribbean philosophy over African philosophy.

Rest of review

Edited by Francois Raffoul and David Pettigrew, French Interpretations of Heidegger: An Exceptional Reception

From the publisher’s site:

French Interpretations of Heidegger undertakes a philosophical engagement with the work of the most significant and creative figures involved in the reception of Heidegger in France. The essays address those thinkers who have been influenced by Heidegger’s thought and have interpreted it in remarkable ways, including Levinas, Beaufret, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, Nancy, Lacoue-Labarthe, Irigaray, Zarader, Greisch, and Dastur. The volume explores the extraordinary impact that Heidegger’s thought has had on contemporary French philosophy, including such movements as existentialism, deconstruction, feminist theory, post-structuralism, and hermeneutics, and illustrates its impact on the American continental scene as well.

Click here for Table of Contents

Judith Butler, “Uncritical Exuberance”

Jacques-Alain Miller, “Obama: Métis or Hermaphrodite?”

Marcuse, An Essay on Liberation

Here in DC people are dancing in the streets. I usually stay away from political issues on this site, but if I had to post one thing, it is the headline from The Onion: “Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job”

Link

Society for Student Philosophers Annual Conference

University of Texas-Pan American

March 27-28, 2009

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Roger T. Ames, University of Hawaii at Manoa

-The Society for Student Philosophers (SSP) invites the submission of papers for possible presentation at their Annual Conference, hosted this year by University of Texas-Pan American in tropical south Texas.

-Papers should be philosophical in the broad sense of the term, showcasing student research and critical thinking at its best.

-Authors must be of student status (e.g., graduate or undergraduate status, not holding a Ph.D. and still pursuing their philosophical education) and papers must not be published or accepted for publication. Papers previously presented at SSP events are excluded from submission. Authors are allowed to simultaneously submit only one paper to each SSP event, and are not allowed to submit the same paper to two or more SSP events at once. Papers should be around 15 pages in length, and suitable for a 25 minute presentation.

-Leave identifying references to the author out of the submitted paper, and include author information (address, institution, etc.) in the text of your email.

-Unreadable or virus infected files will not be considered.

-For more details on the conference, check out the SSP website: http://www.societyforstudentphilosophers.org/

-Please send your paper as an email attachment (Word or PDF file) to Dr. Scott R. Stroud, SSP Director, at: ssp_conference@hotmail.com

Deadline for Paper Submission: November 7, 2008