Care and Philosophy; Concept and Reality
Todd May and Joan Tronto in conversation; interview with Peter Wolfendale
Greetings all,
As you read this, I am likely on a plane back to the US after a busy but truly wonderful six weeks in the UK. It was great to host a couple of in-person events at last, to spend some time in the company of some lovely philosophers, and, of course, to see my friend and family.
We are really excited to be hosting Todd May and Joan Tronto tomorrow. Todd has just published a fantastic publicly-oriented book on the philosophy of care and Joan is one of the pioneering thinkers in the field of care ethics, so it promises to be a great conversation. We have also uploaded a conversation with the always brilliant Peter Wolfendale on the nature of concepts. At a time when our conceptual world is shifting in ways that many people find unsettling, Pete offers a timely dose of clarity to this increasingly complex and unwieldy debate.
Your Sunday Read
“The Concept of Concept”: This wide-ranging conversation with Peter Wolfendale from our 2021 “Concept and Reality” issue touches on many of the biggest questions in philosophy - truth, reality, cognition, objectivity, and normativity - while also looking to a few philosophical heavyweights - Hegel, Sellars, and Brandom - to help us understand what philosophers are doing when they theorise and utilise concepts. Throughout the conversation, Pete raises a number of fascinating questions: Are concepts doing the work of cognition, or are they the standards by which that work is to be judged? Why are the kinds of error that we’re capable of making about uranium fundamentally different from the kinds of error we are capable of making about money? If race is not a real biological category, must we conclude that it is a fiction? You can read the conversation here.
Event: Monday at 11am PDT/2pm EDT/7pm UK
“The Philosophy of Care”: Caring has many different objects and comes in many different forms. But what is it, and why does it matter? As Todd May (philosophical advisor to the TV show, The Good Place) argues in his new book, Care: Reflections on Who We Are, caring is in large part what makes each of us what we are as individuals. In a significant way, it defines and reveals each of us.
In conversation with Joan Tronto, one of the pioneers of care ethics, Todd will address the difficulties between understanding care as a reflective attitude and as an emotion, between care and love, between caring for humans and for non-human animals, between self-care and concern for others, and between care and vulnerability. Following this discussion of May’s new book, Joan Tronto will explore the similarities and divergences between May’s account and the model of care ethics she has introduced in seminal texts like Moral Boundaries. You can register for the event here.
Recording of last Monday’s event
For those of you who missed the super conversation on “Politics after Spinoza” featuring Dan Taylor, Gil Morejon, and Solange Manche, you can watch the recording here.
Change of Event Date
Please note that the forthcoming event, “Walter Benjamin and the Critique of Violence” with James Martel and Brad Evans will no longer be happening on Tuesday. It is currently being rearranged for sometime in July - exact date TBC.
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Wishing you all a lovely Sunday, wherever you are.
Anthony Morgan
Editor