Philosophy in the City

Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, University of Liverpool

Please come along to support two days of thinking along with a range of international young philosophers!

10th – 11th March 2012

Seminar Room 1 in the Philosophy Department Building. 7 Abercromby Square (Building no. 143 on the campus map).

Keynote Speakers

Richard Gaskin (University of Liverpool), Philosophy and Pain

Stella Sandford (Kingston University), John Locke – Continental Philosopher?

Educating Wellbeing: The Contributions of Philosophy and Religion

Friday 10th February, 1.00 – 4.30

Seminar Room 1, Department of Philosophy, 7 Abercromby Square

A Philosophy in the City Event, in association with the Forum for European Philosophy

Speakers

John Atherton (University of Chester)

Chris Baker (University of Chester)

Beverley Clack (Oxford Brookes University)

David Lewin (Liverpool Hope University)

Panayiota Vassilopoulou (University of Liverpool)

An afternoon workshop devoted to understanding how philosophy can make us feel good. Philosophers and theorist from around the UK who work in the European tradition of philosophy will talk about how their research impacts on the well-being agenda. This is the inaugural public event the University of Liverpool is holding in association with the Forum for European Philosophy and we look forward to telling you about our future plans.

Creating Futures: Synthetic Biology, Genomics, and the Creation of Life

Monday 21st November 2011, 4-6pm, with refreshments from 3.45pm.

Seminar Room 5, The Management School, University of Liverpool (Building 427 on Precinct Plan)

How far can we go in the engineering of life? What is the future of our species? Molecular biology has advanced over the last few decades at a rate almost unprecedented in the history of science.  These advances have had crucial implications for basic philosophical questions about our understanding of life generally, and ourselves in particular.  Professor John Dupré (University of Exeter) will discuss some of these advances and their implications for such questions as the nature of genetic information, the processes of evolution, and what it is to be human.  Professor Rob Beynon will respond and Professor Stephen Clark will lead the discussion.John Dupré is Director of Egenis and Professor of Philosophy of Science, University of Exeter (http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/sociology/staff/dupre/).

Rob Beynon is Chair of Proteomics at the University of Liverpool (http://www.liv.ac.uk/pfg).

Stephen Clark is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and has recently published ‘Philosophical Futures’ (http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~srlclark/srlc.htm).

This event is a collaboration between the University of Liverpool’s Department of Philosophy (in association with the Royal Institute of Philosophy) and the Culture and Creativity Research Network (http://www.liv.ac.uk/culture-network/) and contributes to the University’s Changing Cultures Research Theme.

Contact Dr Nedim Hassan (ned1973@liverpool.ac.uk) for further information.

Theory and the Festival

2011 marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.  To celebrate, the School of the Arts at the University of Liverpool is running The Liverpool Winter’s Tale Festival, involving a number of events which, they say, “celebrate, analyse and respond to its obsessions with grief and hope, endings and renewals.”

As part of the festival, the Department of Philosophy will be running a series of three seminars on the topic of ‘Theory and the Festival’.

Time

17.00 on 15th November, 22nd November and 29th November

Venue

Seminar Room 3 in the Philosophy Department (7 Abercromby Square)

Our feasts / In every mess have folly, and the feeders / Digest it with a custom.

Taking our cue from the Shepherds’ Festival in Act IV, Scene 4 of The Winter’s Tale and using this as our foundational text throughout, this series of three seminars will consider the challenge that the category of the carnivalesque poses to contemporary theory. At stake will be the productive difference between the structure of the festival and the structure of late capitalist existence. The orienting question will be: does the festival provide a compelling alternative to modern thought structures or is its affirmation merely reactionary nostalgia?

The seminars are open to all and no prior registration is necessary. Please just turn up if you’re interested.  For further information, contact Dr Daniel Whistler <Daniel.Whistler@liv.ac.uk>.

Touched: Philosophy Meets Art

Friday 19th November, 9.30am-5.00pm

A one day conference organised by the Philosophy Department, University of Liverpool and Liverpool Biennial 2010: TOUCHED at Victoria Galleries and Museum, Ashton Street, L69 3DR.

Speakers: Prof. Berys Gaut (St Andrews); Prof. Sue Golding, (Greenwich); Prof. Matthew Kieran (Leeds); Prof. Derek Matravers (Open University); Prof. Peter Osborne (Kingston); Dr Panayiota Vassilopoulou (Liverpool).

Fees (includes lunch and coffee): early registration, until October 20th, £10; late registration £20.  Student bursaries available.

Sponsored by: The British Society of Aesthetics, The Mind Association, The Royal Institute of Philosophy, The Department of Philosophy and the School of Arts, University of Liverpool.

Click here to visit the conference website.

Insights: Academic Research and Cultural Institutions
October – December 2010, Philosophy Department, University of Liverpool

This series of events gives those interested in the philosophy of art, art history, museum studies and related disciplines the opportunity to engage with and learn from distinguished professionals in Liverpool’s leading cultural institutions. The talks are free and open to all.  The Insights series is specially relevant to students who are undertaking postgraduate studies in related fields, as well as to interested undergraduates who are considering a research or career path in arts and culture.

Monday 4 October 2010, 3.30-4.45:
Chrissy Partheni, Head of Museum Partnerships, National Museums Liverpool

Monday 8 November 2010, 3.15-4.30:
Gregory  Scott-Gurner, Director, The Art Organisation Liverpool

Monday 6 December 2010, 3.15-4.30:
Roger Phillips, BBC Radio Merseyside

Click here for more information, or contact Dr Yiota Vassilopoulou at yiota@liv.ac.uk.

Liverpool Biennial Philosophy Talks
September-November 2010
All events take place at 52 Renshaw Street.  Click here for full programme details.

Wednesday 22 September 2010, 6.30pm
ZIA SARDAR: Touched by Wonder: Art and Religion in the 21st Century
Ziauddin Sardar is a writer, broadcaster and cultural critic. His numerous books include Postmodernism and the Other and Balti Britain: A Provocative Journey Through Asian Britain. A Visiting Professor of Postcolonial Studies at the School of Arts, the City University, he is a former co-editor of Third Text. www.ziauddinsardar.com

Wednesday 20 October 2010, 6.30pm
FRANCO ‘BIFO’ BERADI: Acceleration of the Infosphere, psychopathology and the ambiguity of therapy
To be touched increasingly means to be in touch. Franco Berardi is a writer, media-theorist and media-activist. Over many years he has analysed the relation between the changing nature of work and the increasing use by capitalism of communication technologies and culture to generate value out of our creativity and emotions. In this lecture he will discuss sensibility and the psychopathology implied in the connective mutation of the general intellect. What are the possibilities for a therapy that is conceived in terms of social control to become a new path of autonomisation from the capitalist domination of the mind?

Wednesday 27 October 2010, 6.30pm
ABDOUMALIQ SIMONE
AbdouMaliq Simone is an urbanist and Professor of Sociology at Goldsmiths College, London. In his latest book City Life From Djakarta to Dakar. Movements at the crossroads (2010) he describes the surprising ecologies of everyday life in some of the fastest growing urban centres in the world. What happens when bodies, materials and affect intersect in these global cities of the South broadens our understanding of what cities are and could be.

Saturday 30 October 2010, 2pm
The Marx Lounge in Conversation
ALFREDO JAAR – David Harvey and What, How & for Whom/WHW
As part of The Marx Lounge Alfredo Jaar engages speakers from the world of political theory and art to think about the ongoing significance of Marx in their work and in the world. What, How & for Whom/WHW is a curatorial collective formed in 1999 and based in Zagreb, Croatia.

Wednesday 3 November 2010, 6.30pm
NINA POWER: ‘The wound of work’
This lecture will address how contemporary work relates to both art and feminism, with a particular focus on contemporary modes of employment and consumerism. The body, as discussed by Herve Juvin in his recent book The Coming of the Body will be the starting point for an exploration of what it means when the body comes to stand in for the end of history, and how work and the body relate to one another in the present. Nina Power is a senior lecturer in philosophy at Roehampton University and the author of One-Dimensional Woman (Zer0 Books, 2009).

Friday 12 November 2010, 6.30pm
The Marx Lounge in Conversation
ALFREDO JAAR – CHANTAL MOUFFE
As part of The Marx Lounge Alfredo Jaar engages speakers from the world of political theory and art to think about the ongoing significance of Marx in their work and in the world. Chantal Mouffe is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Westminster. She authored numerous books, including (with Ernesto Laclau) Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics (1985); The Return of the Political (1993), The Democratic Paradox (2000) and On the Political (2005).

Wednesday 17 November 2010, 6.30pm
SIMON CRITCHLEY: Fireflies
Is anger the first political emotion? In Infinitely Demanding (2007) the philosopher Simon Critchley identifies a massive political disappointment at the heart of liberal democracy and argues for an ethics of commitment that can inform a radical politics. In this lecture provisionally titled Fireflies, Critchley discusses the infinite demands of art and his growing interests in collaborative practices in relation to art and politics.

Philosophical Sundays at Tate Liverpool
First sunday of every month until 15th December 2010, 2pm-4pm.

Philosophy in Pubs bring their Philosophy Cafe to the Tate for drop-in discussions inspired by the gallery’s ever-changing collection. Free of charge, no booking necessary. Click here to find out more.

Art in Mind at Tate Liverpool
Thursday 18th November 2010, 7pm-9pm.

This special enquiry, run by Philosophy in Pubs, focuses on the 6th Liverpool Biennial: Touched. Free of charge, no booking necessary. Click here for details.