Greetings,
This week is a busy one. Our first in-person event for four years will be happening in London on Thursday; we also have two digital events on Monday and Tuesday. I’m excited to get started…
Your Sunday Read!
“Queer”: an essay by Finn Mackay. With Finn as the main speaker at our London event on Thursday, it seemed like a good time to upload their wonderful overview of some key ideas and figures in the history of Queer Theory. Finn notes that “to be queer is to be strange and difficult to categorise” while also asking why “the powerful triads of sex-gender-sexuality [are] so influential, shaping every aspect of our daily reality with the assumption that everyone is either female, feminine, and heterosexual, or male, masculine, and heterosexual?” At such a fraught political moment, Finn concludes that “it is only by looking at normative mainstream practices from the point of view of those estranged by them that we can begin to understand them (and maybe ourselves) better.” You can read Finn’s essay here.
Mid-week read
Earlier this week, we uploaded an essay from another of our speakers at Thursday’s event. In his essay, “Madness”, philosopher and psychiatrist Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed traces the history of the exclusion of madness from philosophy before considering the ways in which contemporary mental health activism, like Mad Pride, is creating a cultural change in the way madness and normality are perceived. You can read Mohammed’s essay here.
London Event
We are hosting an in-person event at Conway Hall in London on Thursday 18th May. The event will feature three brilliant speakers:
“What does it mean to ‘perform’ gender?”
Finn Mackay (University of the West of England, Bristol)
“Psychiatric Classification and the ‘Mental Health Epidemic’”
Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed (King’s College London)
“The Right To Know: What it is and why we need it now”
Lani Watson (University of Oxford)
If you are in or around London on the 18th, it would be great to see you in person! Doors are at 6pm, with the first speaker at 6.30pm. You can find out more and buy tickets (including concessionary ones) here.
Digital Event #1
Monday at 11am PDT/2pm EDT/7pm UK
“Latina Feminist Philosophy”: Join Mariana Ortega, Andrea Pitts, and Cynthia Paccacerqua to find out more about the remarkable thinkers and ideas that have emerged within this tradition. Full details and registration here.
Digital Event #2
Tuesday at 11am PDT/2pm EDT/7pm UK
“Deleuze/Guattari and A Thousand Plateaus”: Michael Hardt is one of the most influential political philosopher of his generation. He will be talking with Brad Evans about Deleuze and Guattari’s seminal 1980 text and its impact on how we understand the spatial and temporal dimensions of violence. Full details and registration here.
Last Week’s Events
For those who missed Mariana Alessandri and Kieran Setiya discussing “Living with Dark Moods”, you can watch the recording here.
For those who missed Christine Sypnowich and Ben Burgis discussing “What’s Wrong with Equality of Opportunity”, you can watch the recording here.
“The Philosopher and the News” Podcast - New Episode
“The Absurdity of the Monarchy”: On May 6th, the coronation of King Charles III took place in London. According to polls, more than half the British citizens seem to approve of the monarchy and the pomp and pageantry that goes with it. This conversation between host Alexis Papazoglou and guest Alex O’Connor (from the hugely popular YouTube channel, Cosmic Skeptic) asks some pressing social and political questions: Can a monarch ever really have democratic legitimacy? Does the monarchy perpetuate an outdated and unjust social hierarchy in British society? And even though today the role is meant to be merely ceremonial, is it really possible for the monarch to be politically neutral? You can listen to the episode here.
Ending
As always, I close by noting that The Philosopher is unfunded and relies on your generosity to keep going. Please consider becoming a supporter via Patreon or offering a one-off/monthly/annual donation. Your support is hugely appreciated.
Wishing you all a lovely Sunday, wherever you are.
Anthony Morgan
Editor