Up@dawn 2.0

Monday, November 6, 2017

Lyceum

As part of its annual Lyceum series, The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies is pleased to host Professor Michael Monahan (University of Memphis) for a lecture entitled, Decolonizing Reason: Sylvia Winter and 'The Human Project.'

Dr. Monahan's primary philosophical interests are in questions of oppression and liberation, with a particular emphasis on race and racism. He is the author of THE CREOLIZING SUBJECT: RACE, REASON, AND THE POLITICS OF PURITY (Fordham University Press, 2011), as well as editor of Creolizing Hegel (Rowan and Littlefield, 2017).

Jamaican theorist Sylvia Wynter's analysis of the history of colonialism offers a description of what she refers to as "European Man," in which particular European (patriarchal, bourgeois, and white) accounts of "the human," and especially of the human as rational posit themselves as universal. What is significant about her critique, Monahan will argue, is that, contrary to many other postcolonial or decolonial theorists, she does not simply abandon notions of universality or humanism, but rather directs her work toward a call to theoretical action in the form of "the Human Project," in which the failures of the European Enlightenment are avoided in favor of a more genuinely universal and liberatory account of the human. Monahan will propose an understanding of reason that is consistent with Wynter's liberatory humanism.

The lecture and discussion will take place Friday, November 10 in College of Education, Room 164, 5:00 pm. An informal reception will follow the presentation.

2 comments:

  1. #6 Empedocles sky, ayauna, terrica
    Summary

    Empedocles was a Greek Philosopher born in Sicily. He was also a political leader, poet, and physician. He maintained that all matter is made up of four Elements (which he called roots). He postulated something called Love to explain the attraction of different forms of matter, and of something called Strife to account for their separation. He believed in the transmigration of souls between humans and animals and followed a vegetarian lifestyle. Empedocles is considered the last Greek philosopher to write in verse and the surviving fragments of his teaching are from his two poems, Purifications and On Nature. The legend goes that he died by throwing himself into an active volcano

    Quiz:
    1. In what city was Empedocles born?
    2. How did Empedocles die? How was it ironic?
    3. Could Empedocles's philosophies be said to have come from one particular school?
    4. What were the Four elements that he focused heavily on?
    5. What were his 2-famous works?

    Discussion ?s
    1. Do you think that life is just as simple as the two powers of love and strife?
    2. Could things easily be explained just by saying that they either come together or separate?
    3. Do you think Empedocles death was caused by his unclear separation of natural and mystical philosophy?
    4. How does the idea of reincarnation make you feel about consuming meat?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sources:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empedocles
    http://www.iep.utm.edu/empedocl/
    http://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_empedocles.html

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.