his group will focus on reading key Moral and Political philosophical texts. This year we are reading Hegel's Philosophy of Right published in 1821. This work has been described by Stephen Houlgate as 'one of the greatest works of social and political philosophy ever written.' The book traces the true realization of freedom and free will via Hegel's immanent process of dialectics. Arguably, this book is still pertinent and relevant for our times: not only does it acknowledge that freedom can be enhanced by economic opportunities, but, moreover, it recognizes that unregulated capitalism is a cause of alienation, inequality and poverty.

Everybody welcome! Please contact Andrew Paull for further information.

Guest Speaker: Dylan Shaul (Toronto)

Title: 'The Absolute Idea of the Absolute Spirit: Hegel on the Enjoyment of Philosophy'

The study of Chinese thought in the West has often been mired with misinterpretation. The causes of this misunderstanding range from simple lack of knowledge and accurate translations to blatant ethnocentrism. This reading group proposes to study early Chinese thinkers on their own terms, without imposing Western concepts on them. It is our goal to create a space of exchange and learning that will enable all to join and get something from it. Therefore, everyone is welcome. No previous knowledge of Chinese thought and languages is required, as we will use English translations of the classics. It will however be one of the goals of the reading group to develop an awareness of the particular meaning of certain Chinese terms, so as to not lose too much in translation.
 
This term, we will be reading the Daodejing 道德經, "The Classic of the Way and Virtue". There are far too many translations, and of too varying outlooks (and quality), to unquestionably recommend any one of them. D.C Lau's 1963 "Tao Te Ching" and Roger T. Ames & David L. Hall's 2003 "Dao de jing: a philosophical translation" are both good starting points, but crossing sources will be very important to grasp all the complexity of this often obscure text.

Everybody welcome! Please contact Thadee Chantry-Gellens for further information.

'The Biopolitics of Mobility'

Guest Speaker: Martina Tazzioli (Goldsmiths)

This session marks the last WiP seminar of Term 2. We will be looking at a paper from PhD student Jonathan Clarke-West. The abstract for Jonathan’s paper is below. We look forward to seeing you there!

 Imagination in Proust’s A La Recherche du Temps Perdu. 

 This paper introduces my thesis before staging the first chapter. It addresses the requirement to study the role of imagination in Recherche before drawing out examples of its operation from Recherche. It outlines three categories by which I understand imagination to operate within the novel: firstly, its operation as a faculty; secondly, its role in the context of artistic production; finally, its articulation in the presentation of society. It then moves to consider the presentation of imagination as a faculty in the novel – the imagination. It looks at the positions held by different commentators – who mostly centre upon the ampliative powers acquired once imagination and sense conspire. It elects to focus upon the operation of imagination articulated by the phenomena of Proustian sensation and involuntary memory. Deleuze’s reading of Kant’s Sublime grants a point of entry to this operation. The similarities enable the claim to be made that Proust articulates a literary analytic of the encounter in these phenomena.

Please contact Johan Heemskerk for further information (j.heemskerk@warwick.ac.uk)

his group will focus on reading key Moral and Political philosophical texts. This year we are reading Hegel's Philosophy of Right published in 1821. This work has been described by Stephen Houlgate as 'one of the greatest works of social and political philosophy ever written.' The book traces the true realization of freedom and free will via Hegel's immanent process of dialectics. Arguably, this book is still pertinent and relevant for our times: not only does it acknowledge that freedom can be enhanced by economic opportunities, but, moreover, it recognizes that unregulated capitalism is a cause of alienation, inequality and poverty.

Everybody welcome! Please contact Andrew Paull for further information.

Details TBC

Guest Speaker: Miles Hentrup (FGCU)

Title: 'How to Think in a Circle: On the Circularity of Hegel's System'

Dr Barnaby Walker will host an online Outreach event for Year 12 students as part of the Discover Warwick Week: 'Can Art Be Immoral?'

Theme: 'Continental Philosophy and Its Histories'

Keynote Speakers:

Professor Stella Sandford (Kingston University)

Dr Mogens Laerke (CNRS)

Dr Francey Russell (Columbia University)

Continental Philosophy often focuses its efforts on studying, comparing, and criticising the thought of past philosophers. One would be hard-pressed to find a thinker in the Continental tradition who has not understood and presented their own thought in relation to an Ancient Greek, or a Modern philosopher. But these philosophers do not approach historical figures as ‘historians of ideas’ or as ‘experts’ on a historical period. Rather, the new philosophy is seen as standing in contrast to, or as a continuation of, the problems and questions of the past. As such, Continental Philosophy often places a strong emphasis on the construction of, and the engagement with, its histories, thereby understanding and differentiating itself on the basis of traditions, schools, and systems, rather than theories, disciplines, and problems.

One of the aims of this conference is to investigate different ways in which Continental Philosophy engages with the thinkers that belong to its history: what is it to ‘read’ Plato, Spinoza, Kant, or Nietzsche in Continental Philosophy? How important is the canon and what is its methodological and philosophical significance? Should we keep putting forward various creative (mis)readings of the past philosophers or, as Husserl has suggested early on, is it better to get rid of the past and proceed afresh with a new method?

History, however, is more than a ‘tool’ utilised by Continental Philosophy. From Hegel’s Philosophy of History and Marx’s materialisation of it, to Heidegger’s distinction between Historie and Geschichte, and Adorno and Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment Continental Philosophy makes the phenomenon (in contrast to the discipline) of history the very object of its investigations. Hence, we wonder: what does it mean to write a ‘philosophy of history’ and what possible form can such an enquiry take today?

But it must not be forgotten that Continental Philosophy can itself be seen as a period in the longer history of philosophy. This makes the very concept of Continental Philosophy open to inquiry by philosophers, but also to historians, sociologists, political scientists, etc. What does it mean to address Continental philosophy as a historical period? Can methods, approaches, traditions, and theories from other disciplines illuminate and inform philosophical understandings of Continental Philosophy? Can such approaches be helpful to disciplines other than philosophy? This is another crucial topic that this conference aims to investigate.

This conference is made possible by generous funding provided by the University of Warwick Philosophy Department and British Society for the History of Philosophy. It is an annual event within The Centre for Research in Post-Kantian European Philosophy (University of Warwick).

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/philosophy/research/activities/postkantian/events/wcpc

Guest Speaker: Marc Nicolas Sommer (Basle)

Title: 'Enjoy Thyself: The Architectronics of Hegel's System'

Guest Speaker: Bruna Picas Prats (Barcelona)

Title: 'Rest and Completion in Hegel's Logic'

Guest Speaker: Sebastian Stein (Heidelberg)

Title: 'Hegel's Notion of Philosophy: The Concept-Based Unity of Self-Referential Universality and Differentiated Particularity'

Guest Speaker: Barbora Siposova (Warwick)

Guest Speaker: Friedrike Schick (Türbingen)

Title: 'Hegel on the Concept of Philosophy: The Introduction of the Encyclopedia'

Guest Speaker: Jonathan Webber (Cardiff)

Guest Speaker: Angelica Nuzzo (CUNY)

Title: Hegelian Systemacity: Questions of Beginnings and Questions of Ends'

This session will focus on dancers Liz Aggiss and Kimiko Versatile

'The Liberation of the Voice Through Dance'

Please contact Sailee Khurjeka (sailee.khurjeka@warwick.ac.uk) for further information.

Session 1: Preface and Chapter 1: Evil and Unconditional Respect

Contact Tom Crowther (T.Crowther@warwick.ac.uk)

Contact: Jack Shardlow, jack.shardlow@warwick.ac.uk

Guest Speaker: Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson (Syracuse University)

Title: Contested Legacies: Constellations of Terrorism in the Postbellum United States

Response by Quassim Cassam (University of Warwick)

The seminar will be held online on MS Teams. If you wish to attend and be added to the Team, please send an email to Daniele.Lorenzini@warwick.ac.uk.

We are very pleased to be discussing a paper by MPhil student Sailee Khurjekar. The abstract for Sailee’s paper is below, and the paper itself is attached for those who wish to read it ahead of time. We look forward to engaging with such a vital topic.

Establishing the Place of Race: A Critical Evaluation of Cultural Constructionism 

The metaphysics of race has presented competing theories about the definition and role of human races, alongside debates surrounding the existence of races. Social constructionists on race are concerned with the nature of race and the way that it latches on to our social reality. There are two strands of social constructionism on race: political constructionism and cultural constructionism. This paper is a critical evaluation of Chike Jeffers’ cultural constructionist account of race. I will posit three criticisms of Jeffers’ position, all pertaining to his claim that races ought to be preserved in a post-racist world. The form of my criticisms is as follows:

(1) Criticism 1: Single and Unified Culture by Race

A single and unified culture by race does not exist after the end of racism.

(2) Criticism 2: Racial Difference

Racial difference cannot be celebrated in a utopian world because such difference ceases to exist.

(3) Criticism 3: White Supremacism

The preservation of racialised people worryingly blurs the line between White pride and White supremacism.

I hope that the thesis will show: The significance of the social construction of race; the benefits of adopting Jeffers’ cultural constructionist account of race; and the drawbacks of preserving racial groups after the end of racism.

Guest Speaker: Johannes Roessler (Warwick)