Digest Week 6 Hilary Term 2023

General Linguistics Seminar

Hosted by Víctor Acedo-Matellán and Daniel Altshuler

Title: The left periphery of Old Catalan

Speaker: Afra Pujol i Campeny (University of Oxford & British Academy)

The seminar will take place at 5:15pm in Room 2 of the Taylorian Institute

Centre for Gender, Identity and Subjectivity

CGIS BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with colleagues working on histories of gender, identity and subjectivity

15.30-17.00, Faculty of History Common Room

Get to know colleagues in History and related disciplines who are interested in and working on women's history, the history of gender, identity, and subjectivity.  Please come along to meet one-another, build connections & share ideas. All undergraduates, graduates, ECRs, Faculty members, and interested parties from across the University are welcome.

Tea, coffee, and cakes will be served.

Israel and Ione Massada Fellowships Programme

Title: 'Cleopatra's Nose: Historical Contingency and Why it Matters' 

Speaker: Professor Yemima Ben Menahem (Philosophy of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

What do we mean when we characterise certain events, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, or the spreading of a new mutation of COVID as necessary or inevitable? Conversely, what do we mean when judging these to be contingent, supposing they could have turned out differently (if only …)? These familiar notions sound beguilingly unproblematic; indeed, they pervade common thinking about determinism and chance. Yet, perusing their place in history, literature, the evolution of life, and the present climate crisis, this talk sheds new light on the concepts of historical contingency and necessity, and explores some of their moral implications.

Location: Sultan Nazrin Shah Auditorium, Worcester College

The presentation will begin at 17:15 and be followed by discussion and drinks afterwards. The event is free and open to all.

Hegel Reading Group

We shall be meeting on Tuesdays 6-7.30 pm on Skype; please email louise.braddock@philosophy.ox.ac.uk for the Skype link.

This term and the next we are reading Hegel’s Anthropology, in the ‘Philosophy of Mind’ (translation is by Wallace and Miller) but we will work from the Michael Inwood revision (OUP 2007). We are starting (in 1st Week) from para 377, eventually getting to the end at para 412 (we will not read the Zuzatse in the sessions).

The reading is posted each week on hegelinoxford.wordpress.com

Gadfly Reading Group

focusing on the writings of Plato

Meet on Tuesdays during term time, 7:30pm at St John’s College

Reading: TBC

“I am the gadfly of the Athenian people” - Socrates, in Plato’s Apology 

The Gadfly Club was founded because we believe that dialogue is the principal and most effective method of understanding ourselves and the world around us. We thus read Plato’s dialogue not just as a model of dialogue, nor only for his philosophical insights; we use his dialogues as a springboard to discuss the real and living problems they present. This is why, after an hour or more of live-reading, we head to the only place friends and philosophers must go – the pub!

We encourage all – especially those who don’t consider themselves ‘students of philosophy’ – to come and join us, hoping to remain true to the main desire of the OSM – that of stimulating inter-disciplinary engagement. 

'Cleopatra's Nose: Historical Contingency and Why it Matters'

Speaker: Professor Ben-Menahem (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Date: Tuesday 21 February at 5.15pm

Venue: Worcester College (Sultan Nazrin Shah Auditorium)

What do we mean when we characterise certain events, such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, or the spreading of a new mutation of COVID as necessary or inevitable? Conversely, what do we mean when judging these to be contingent, supposing they could have turned out differently (if only …)? These familiar notions sound beguilingly unproblematic; indeed, they pervade common thinking about determinism and chance. Yet, perusing their place in history, literature, the evolution of life, and the present climate crisis, this talk sheds new light on the concepts of historical contingency and necessity, and explores some of their moral implications.

Everyone is welcome. The talk be followed by drinks and further discussion.

Join us on Wednesday 22 February 10.00-16.00, Centre for Digital Scholarship, Weston Library

Would you like to contribute to the discovery of new research materials in the Bodleian’s manuscript collections? And to learn something about editing early modern letters and approaches to digital humanities along the way? Then please sign up for our Bodleian Student Editions editing workshops. 

Letters are the Cinderella of early modern documents. There are thousands of letters from the early modern period in the Bodleian Libraries, creating a vast bank of potential data for a myriad of research projects. But we actually know very little about the contents of each letter. With miles of manuscript records, it is impossible in the normal course of duties to describe the contents of archives in any detail. A typical catalogue entry reads ‘letters to Lord Guilford, from members of his family, 1766-73. 204 leaves’. This represents around 400 pages of text containing a continuous correspondence on a range of subjects, and in fact is part of an archive of hundreds of letters stretching across the 18th century. And this is just one collection!. We would like to unlock these letters and encourage new research by guiding potential users to their value and interest.

In this day-long workshop you will learn the skills to handle some of the Bodleian's special collections and to read eighteenth-century handwriting. No experience in history or historical texts is needed - we'll teach you all you need to handle, read and transcribe these fascinating letters. 

Level – open to complete beginners and students from any subject, undergraduate or graduate

Refreshments will be provided

If you are interested in coming to this workshop, please register here by Monday 13th February

The Problem of Evil: Ancient and Modern

Wednesday 6th week (22nd February), 19:30, Worcester College, £3 entry or £10 for annual membership

We are excited to be having Professor Mark Edwards deliver a lecture on ‘The problem of evil: ancient and modern’.

Professor Edwards graduated from Corpus Christi College in 1984 with a BA in Literae Humaniores and in 1988 completed his doctorate entitled ‘Plotinus and the Gnostics’. He then went on to complete a BA in Theology in 1990 whilst holding the Esmee Fairbairn Junior Research Fellowship at New College from 1899-1992 where he remained between 1992 and 1993 as a British Academy Post-Doctoral Fellow.

Edwards is currently the Associate Professor in Patristics in the Faculty of Theology and Religion and, since 2014, has held a chair as Professor of Early Christian Studies. As well as this, he has been a member of the committee of the Oxford Centre for Late Antiquity since its establishment and stands on the editorial boards of several journals.

The problem of evil asks whether we can reconcile the existence of an omnibenevolent God with the existence of evil and suffering. Edwards will be investigating this question with respect to the ancient church fathers as well as more modern discussions on the topic.
 

Oxford Philosophy Society Talk

Title: 'Individuality as Difference'

Lecturer: Prof Guy Kahane, Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, Professor of Moral Philosophy, Pembroke College

Date: 22nd February 2023

Time: 6:30 - 7:30 PM 

Venue: Lecture Room, Radcliffe Humanities

Today’s culture tells us to respect, even celebrate, the many ways in which we are different from each other. These are moral claims about how to relate to people, given that they are different. But does it also matter whether we are different in the first place? I argue for the non-instrumental value to us of individuality, understood in terms of our differences from others. Past defences of individuality often unhelpfully conflate it with autonomy or authenticity, but these can come apart from individuality. Individuality is also distinct from numerical identity and moral status, and cannot be fully captured in terms of replaceability, making a difference, point, or rarity. Most current theories of well-being or meaning in life leave it open that lives utterly lacking in individuality might be wonderfully good and deeply meaningful. These theories, I argue, fail to account for what Valéry called ‘the evil of not being unique.'

The lecture is followed by our 'Pints and Pondering' session, a social gathering just across the road at the Royal Oak.

Joseph Butler Society

David Leech (Bristol): 'The Religious Heart'

Thursday 23 February, 8:30 to 10 pm

Harris Seminar Room, Oriel College

For further details, see: http://josephbutlersociety.weebly.com/

Oxford Philosophy Society Reading Group

Topic: Effective Altruism

Date: 23rd February 2023

Time: 7:00 - 8:00 PM

Venue: Seminar Room 1, Keble College

The reading list will be sent closer to the date

Jaeggi Reading Group

Text: Rahel Jaeggi, Alienation, trans Neuhouser/Smith (Columbia UP, 2014). German editions 2005/2016: Entfremdung.

The English text is available electronically via SOLO.

Friday 1.30-3.00pm HT 2023 Weeks 1 to 8

Venue: Worcester College, Le May Seminar Room