Modern Philosophy

The Modern Philosophy Workshop will not resume in 2010-11.  Those who have attended this workshop in the past are invited to consider attending the new German Philosophy Workshop, the Practical Philosophy Workshop, and the Political Theory Workshop.  These workshops frequently feature conversations on philosophical figures of the Modern period.  (http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/germanphilosophy/, http://cas.uchicago.edu/workshops/practicalphilosophy/, and http://ptw.uchicago.edu/, respectively.)

On Friday, May 28, Jonathan Bruno (Harvard, Department of Government) will discuss his paper, “Montesquieu’s république fédérative and Early American Political Thought.”  The paper is available for download here:

Jonathan Bruno, Montesquieu’s république fédérative

Coffee and breakfast pastries will be served.  As usual, we will meet in Stuart 209, at 10:30 am.  This will be the last meeting of the Modern Philosophy Workshop.

This Friday, May 14, Jason Rosensweig (Social Thought) will discuss his paper, “Kant’s Politics: ‘The Greatest Conceivable Despotism.”  The paper is available for download here:

Jason Rosensweig, Kant’s Politics: ‘The Greatest Conceivable Despotism’

Coffee and breakfast pastries will be served.  As usual, we will meet in Stuart 209, at 10:30 am.  This will be the penultimate meeting of the workshop.

Gregory Freeman (Social Thought) will discuss his paper, “The Contradiction of The Social Contract and the Contradiction of Rousseau.”  The paper is available for download here:

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Coffee and breakfast pastries will be served.  As usual, we will meet in Stuart 209, at 10:30 am.

The Modern Philosophy and Political Theory Workshops are pleased to announce that on Monday, April 5, Professor Tracy Strong (UCSD, Political Science) will discuss his paper, “Music, the Passions, and Political Freedom in Rousseau.”  The paper is available for download here:

Tracy Strong: “Music, the Passions, and Political Freedom in Rousseau”

The meeting will take place at 12-1:30 pm, in Pick 506.  The paper will not be read during the workshop.  Gregory Freeman (Committee on Social Thought) will serve as commentator.

Unless otherwise indicated, all workshop meetings will take place in Stuart 209, 10:30 am – 12:20 pm. All papers will be posted on this website a week in advance of the presentation, and members of the workshop will be notified via email. Papers will not be read during the workshop. To be added to the email list, please contact Dasha Polzik (polzik at uchicago dot edu).

Spring 2010

(Week II)  Monday, April 5 || Tracy Strong (University of California San Diego), “Rousseau: politics, language, and music.”   Co-sponsored by the Political Theory Workshop (please note unusual location and time: Monday, April 5, 12-1:30 pm, Pick 506)

(Week V)  Friday, April 30 ||  Gregory Freeman (University of Chicago, Social Thought), “The Contradiction of The Social Contract and the Contradiction of Rousseau”

(Week VII)  Friday, May 14 || Jason Rosensweig (University of Chicago, Social Thought), “Kant’s Politics: ‘The Greatest Conceivable Despotism’ and the Difference Between Ethics and Politics”

(Week IX)  Friday, May 28 || Jonathan Bruno (Harvard, Department of Government), “Montesquieu’s république fédérative”

On Friday, March 12, Professor Frederick Neuhouser (Barnard College, Columbia University) will discuss his paper, “Why Nature Is Not the Source of Inequality: Part I of Rousseau’s Second Discourse.”

Download the paper here: Frederick Neuhouser, “Why Nature Is Not the Source of Inequality: Part I of Rousseau’s Second Discourse”

The paper will not be read during the workshop.

The workshop will take place in Stuart 209, 10:30 am – 12:20 pm.

This Friday, March 5, Noam Hoffer (Tel Aviv University, visiting UChicago 2009-10) will discuss his paper, “Systematicity in Kant’s Moral and Theoretical Ideas of God.”  Download the paper here:

Noam Hoffer, “Systematicity in Kant’s Moral and Theoretical Ideas of God”

The paper will not be read during the workshop, so please come having read it.

The workshop will take place in Stuart 209 (the department’s seminar room), 10:30 am – 12:20 pm.

This Friday, February 19, Ian Storey (University of Chicago, Department of Political Science) will discuss his paper, “The Democracy of Taste: Judgment and the Inauguration of Kant’s Politics.”  Download the paper here:

Ian Storey, Democracy of Taste: Judgment and the Inauguration of Kant’s Politics

The paper will not be read during the workshop, so please come having read it.

The workshop will take place in Stuart 209 (the department’s seminar room), 10:30 am – 12:20 pm.