In an interview with Al Jazeera, Slavoj Zizek, the Slovenian philosopher, made a rather abrupt staccato observation – a hit-and-run strike worthy of an action hero – very much reminiscent of the fate of Elvis Presley and his Oriental sojourn:

via Slavoj Zizek and Harum Scarum – Opinion – Al Jazeera English.

Whether tragical, comical, historical or lyrical, the vast human panorama of Shakespeare’s work raises many of the deepest and most enduring philosophical questions: knowledge versus skepticism, reality versus appearance, traditional virtue versus modern moral expediency, self versus other, being versus non-being. From Hegel to Cavell, Shakespearean texts have proven themselves to be decisive ways in which philosophy has come to understand itself and have provided a unique space in which to inform, influence and indeed challenge forms of philosophical understanding.

Following on from the success of last year’s summer school ‘On the Tragic and its Limits’, which dealt with Attic tragedy and its philosophical interpretation from Plato to Heidegger, our focus will be the way in which Shakespeare allows us to locate the emergence of modern drama and indeed the phenomenon of modernity. As the young Schelling writes, ‘If our world were ever lost, one could recreate it from the series of Shakespeare’s works’.

Simon Critchley will give a series of lectures on Hamlet which will deal with various ‘outsider’ interpretations of the play, notably those of Schelling, Hegel, Nietzsche, Freud, Schmitt, Benjamin and Lacan as well as providing a close textual engagement with the play itself.

Although Hamlet and the other tragedies will provide a primary focus for discussion, applications are welcomed on any aspect of Shakespeare’s work and its philosophical purport or its challenge to philosophy. Indeed, we are particularly interested in the ways in which Shakespeare’s comedies, historical plays and poetry raise philosophical questions that might place in question the alleged philosophical primacy of the tragedies and the category of the tragic. We also welcome interpretations of Shakespeare that touch on psychoanalytic, political, legal and ethical themes.

via SHAKESPEARE AND PHILOSOPHY.

Part 2

R.K.: Did the reception of Radical Atheism push your research in any surprising directions?

M.H.: The most surprising thing, at least for me, is first of all how much response the book has generated. The reception of  Radical Atheism has gone far beyond anything I expected and I am deeply grateful for the ways in which it has challenged me to refine my thinking and develop my arguments. Thanks to careful and demanding respondents, I have not only been given the chance to press home the stakes of my intervention; I have also been pushed to pursue issues that were either underdeveloped or inadequately addressed in my previous work. Beginning with  The Challenge of Radical Atheism conference at Cornell and continuing with the colloquium on Ethics, Hospitality and Radical Atheism at Oxford as well as the Derrida and Religion conference at Harvard, I have had the good fortune to engage in direct debate with central interlocutors of the book. These debates have in turn informed the written exchanges about the book, which continue to inspire my current work. Leaving aside the specific polemics about Derrida scholarship, I would emphasize two strands of questioning that have been both the most difficult and the most productive to address. The first strand concerns the status of the structure of the trace in my argument, while the second concerns the conception of desire that informs what I call radical atheism.

Link

Vol 18, No 1 (2008–2010) Open-access

Table of Contents

Articles

Julia Kristeva’s Maternal Passions

Kelly Oliver

Foucault’s Critique of the Science of Sexuality: The Function of Science within Bio-power

Sokthan Yeng

Genetic Enhancement and the Biopolitical Horizon of Class Conflict

Wade Roberts

The World is One Great Hospital

David-Olivier Gougelet

Emerging from the Depths: On the Intensive Creativity of Historical Events

Craig Lundy

The Stirrings of a Stubborn and Difficult Freedom: Assimilation, Education, and Levinas’s Crisis of Humanism

Claire Katz

Translations

Pragmatism and Existential Philosophy

Hans Lipps, Jason Hills 106-118

via Vol 18, No 1 (2008–2010).

It has taken more hours than I care to admit to remake the site and there is still work to do. The navigation of the site will be completed shortly. I am also in the midst of changing hosts and I hope that it won’t interrupt the flow of things too much.  Bear with me as I wrap up the rest of it, but I think it’s ready for prime-time.

I hope you all like it and thank you for your patience and support. I would welcome any feedback, of course!

Link

03 September 2010 10.15-17.45 Acting in Film: Concepts, Theories, Philosophies –
An International Conference

04 September 2010 10.15-18.45 Acting in Film: Concepts, Theories, Philosophies –
An International Conference

The international conference assembles a distinguished group of American, Canadian, European and Israelian scholars from dance, theatre, film, media and cultural studies, criticism, art and philosophy who will discuss both the film actor’s presence and the film actor’s art in silent and sound, in analog and digital film from different perspectives, aiming at providing a close review of current research in the field:

Keynote Lectures:
Paul McDonald (University of Portsmouth),
Jacqueline Nacache (Université Paris-Diderot/Paris7),
Cynthia Baron (Bowling Green State University),
Vivian Sobchack (University of California, Los Angeles).

Papers:
Jörg Sternagel (Universität Potsdam),
Christina Adamou (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki),
Susanne Foellmer (Freie Universität Berlin),
Sharon Marie Carnicke (University of Southern California, Los Angeles),
Henri Schoenmakers (Roosevelt Academy Middelburg),
Frank P. Tomasulo (Florida State University, Tallahassee),
Malte Hagener (Leuphana Universität Lüneburg),
Kathrina Glitre (The University of the West of England, Bristol),
Tamar Jeffers McDonald (University of Kent),
Ceri Hovland (University of Reading),
Jan Distelmeyer (Fachhochschule Potsdam),
Jennifer M. Barker (Georgia State University, Atlanta),
Christiane Voss (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar),
Elena Del Río (University of Alberta, Edmonton),
Michael Mayer (Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe),
Marc Ries (Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach),
Keren Omry (Tel Aviv University),
Johannes Riis (Københavns Universitet),
Aaron Taylor (University of Lethbridge),
Dieter Mersch (Universität Potsdam).

Moderation:
Winfried Gerling (Fachhochschule Potsdam),
Patrick Vonderau (Stockholms Universitet),
Katrin Konrad (Fachhochschule Potsdam),
Simon Vincent (Universität Potsdam),
Christine Hanke (Universität Potsdam).

Conference Venue:
Universität Potsdam
Institut für Künste und Medien
Europäische Medienwissenschaft
Am Neuen Palais 10
Haus 8, Raum 60/61
14469 Potsdam, Deutschland