Fall 2017 Events
Thursday, December 7
Holiday Party
12:30–2:15 p.m.
3308 Boylan Hall
Join us for a festive event to celebrate the holidays and the end of the semester. There will be fun and games as well as food and drinks!
Philosophy Social Hour Event Series
Thursday, November 30
The Absurd
Speaker: Fletcher Maumus
12:30–2 p.m.
Thursday, November 9
Autonomy or Ask About Anything
Speakers: Justin Steinberg and Serene Khader
12:30–2 p.m.
Tuesday, November 7
The Annihilation of the Self in the Islamic Mystical Tradition
Speaker: Andrew Arlig
12:30–2 p.m.
Thursday, November 2
Eastern Philosophies or Ask About Anything
Speaker: Saam Trivedi
12:30–2 p.m.
Come to Social Hour to ask questions, question the answers, and discuss various philosophical issues with our faculty members in a relaxed setting. All discussions will occur in 3308 Boylan Hall.
Thursday, October 26
Twisted Vision Series
Black Mirror episode: "The Entire History of You"
Twilight Zone episode: "To Serve Man"
5:15–7:30 p.m.
3305 Boylan Hall
Join us for the final event of our Twisted Vision Series for this semester.
Refreshments will be served. Philosophical discussion to follow after watching these episodes.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Twisted Vision Series
Black Mirror episode: "Hated in the Nation"
Twilight Zone episode: "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"
5:15–7:30 p.m.
3305 Boylan Hall
There appears to be a monster among us. Dare to find out who it may be and join us for another mind-bending and twisted night!
Refreshments will be served. Philosophical discussion to follow after watching these episodes.
Friday, October 13
Twisted Vision Series
Black Mirror episode: "White Bear"
Twilight Zone episode: "Person or Persons Unknown"
3:30–5:30 p.m.
3305 Boylan Hall
Dare to enter the twisted world of White Bear Justice Park!
Refreshments will be served. Philosophical discussion to follow after watching these episodes.
Tuesday, October 3
Twisted Vision Series
Black Mirror episode: "Nosedive"
Twilight Zone episode: "Eye of the Beholder"
5:15–7:30 p.m.
3305 Boylan Hall
The beauty of this event shall be determined by the Eye of the Beholder, but if you do not come, prepare for a Nosedive!
Refreshments will be served. Philosophical discussion to follow after watching these episodes.
Philosophy Social Hour Event Series
Wednesday, October 25
Ethics and Literature or Ethics of Love
Speaker: Daniel Campos
2:30–3:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 19
From Refugees to Health Care: United States and the Idea of the "Common Good'
Speaker: Anna Gotlib
12:30–2 p.m.
Monday, October 16
Language and Its Limits
Speaker: Dena Shottenkirk
2:15–3:15 p.m.
Wednesday, October 11
Artificial Intelligence
Speaker: Samir Chopra
4–5 p.m.
Come to Social Hour to ask questions, question the answers, and discuss various philosophical issues with our faculty members in a relaxed setting. All discussions will occur in 3308 Boylan Hall.
Tuesday, September 19
Spinoza's Ethics as a Theological-Political Treatise
Speaker: Steven Nadler (University of Wisconsin)
12:30–2 p.m.
3305 Boylan Hall
A Spinoza scholar once famously suggested that the Theological-Political Treatise (TTP) is of "no use whatsoever” in understanding the Ethics. This same scholar also claimed that propositions 21-42 of Part Five of the Ethics are "an unmitigated and seemingly unmotivated disaster" and dismisses them as of "negligible" interest and importance. In fact, a proper understanding of Part Five requires the TTP, since only in light of the latter work's attack on the political ambitions of religious authorities can we understand what exactly Spinoza is doing in the final propositions of the Ethics, particularly his doctrine of the eternity of the mind and his account of "blessedness" and "salvation." In this lecture we will see that the real political dimensions of the Ethics lay not in the Hobbesian propositions of Part Four, but the admittedly opaque yet crucial propositions in the second half of Part Five. In this way we can see how the Ethics is as integral a part of Spinoza's theological-political project as the TTP.