Digest Week 4 Michaelmas Term 2023

Hegel Reading Group

We shall be meeting Wednesdays 6-7.30 pm on Skype; please email louise.braddock@philosophy.ox.ac.uk or susanne.herrmann-sinai@philosophy.ox.ac.uk for the Skype link. This term we are reading texts by other authors discussing passages and problems of Hegel’s Anthropology, in the ‘Philosophy of Mind’ (translation is by Wallace and Miller) but we will work from the Michael Inwood revision (OUP 2007). Texts are shared via dropbox link and to be read in advance. Updates are posted on hegelinoxford.wordpress.com.

'The Dynamics of Delusion' Seminar (2 of 3)

Introductory Remarks: Dr Martin Gillies, Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer in Neurosurgery, University of Oxford

Time/date: Thursday 2 November 2023

Venue: St Hilda's College

Any and all are welcome.  

Contact Matthew Parrott if you have any questions or would like more information about the seminar series.

The final seminar will take place on Thursday 7 December, with introductory Remarks by Professor Matthew Broome, Professor of Psychiatry, Director Institute of Mental Health, University of Birmingham.

St Cross Ethics Lecture

'Morality and Personality' by Professor Predrag Cicovacki (The College of the Holy Cross)

Date/Time: Thursday 2 November between 5-6pm

Venue: St Cross Room, St Cross College, 61 St Giles, Oxford

Abstract: I will explore the mutual relationship between morality and personality. While these two concepts are certainly related – who else needs morality but human persons, and how could someone be a person without being concerned with morality? – there are also tensions between them. First, while morality (like law) aspires toward a universal application and validity, personality necessarily involves an element of uniqueness; what happens when what my unique personality prompts me to do is in conflict with the general norms of morality? Second, personality is something dynamic and every personality must develop: while the focus on morality seems to be what a person does, the focus on personality seems to be on who or what a person wants to become. To explore these issues further, I will consider four possible models of their mutual relationship: 1. Their initial union, in which neither concept is fully developed; 2. Their initial separation, when the concept of morality becomes objectified into a moral law and dominates over the concept of personality [reflecting most of the Western history]; 3. A reaction to 2., which led to a further development in favor of the relative independence of individuality [which mostly captures the human condition in the last 150 years]; 4. A possible reintegration of morality and personality through which they could enhance each other and better serve a further development of humanity.

Book to attend in person at St Cross College or Register for the Zoom webinar.

‘Anātman & Philosophy’ Conference

Keynote Speaker: Professor Diwakar Acharya and 2 full days of speakers from around the world.

Taking place between Friday 3 November - Sunday 5 November.

Location: Opening day: LMH Talbot Hall, Weekend: Radcliffe Humanities Building

Opening reception, tea and coffee, and lunches included.

For the full programme visit: https://anatmanconference.wordpress.com/. Registration is required as spaces are limited.

Radical Reflections

Radical Reflections: A Discussion of the New Translation of Simone Weil’s The Need for Roots

Date/Time: Friday 3 November between 4 - 5.30pm

Venue: The Collier Room, Regent's Park College, Pusey Street Oxford OX1 2LB.

Join us for a panel discussion of the new translation of Simone Weil’s The Need for Roots, a radical reenvisioning of human society written during the upheaval of the Second World War. Translated by Ros Schwartz, with an introduction by Kate Kirkpatrick, the panel will discuss the contemporary relevance of Weil’s reflections on fascism and war—and explore her novel vision for cultivating healthy human collectives.

Wine reception to follow

With

Deborah Casewell (University of Chester)

Kate Kirkpatrick (Regent’s Park College, Oxford), and

Christopher Thomas (Manchester Metropolitan University)

“A veritable treatise on civilization” - Albert Camus

“One of the most important writings of a unique, flawed and controversial genius, this book warns that modern societies will only be able to resist fascism by a wholesale spring-cleaning of our political imagination in the light of spiritual practice. An excellent, lucid and readable new translation.” - Rowan Williams

Please note that registration is required. For more information and to book a place please click here.

Joyce Mitchell Cook Lecture

Why Intellectual Humility Matters in the Study of Intelligence

Speaker: Professor Michelle Moddy-Adams

Time/Date: Friday 3 November at 5pm

Venue: The Pavilion, St Hilda's College

Join us for the third annual Joyce Mitchell Cook Lecture, featuring Professor Michele Moody-Adams the Joseph Straus Professor of Political Philosophy and Legal Theory at Columbia University. Professor Michele Moody-Adams has published on equality and social justice, moral psychology and the virtues, moral objectivity and moral relativism, and the philosophical implications of gender and race. This is a must-attend event for anyone interested in philosophy, education, or social justice.

Register here to attend.