Novelty and philosophy; Devotion and fanaticism; London event
An essay by Emmalon Davis, a digital event with Paul Katsafanas, and announcing a forthcoming London event with Maeve McKeown
Dear all,
The poster for the new events series is finalised:
Thanks as always to Nick Halliday for his design skills and mates’ rates. Thanks also to our ongoing collaborators - Matt Lord and the team at Boston Review, and Brad Evans and his Centre for the Study of Violence. And last but not least, thanks to Maryam Aghdami, Urja Lakhani, and Andrés Saenz de Sicilia for sharing hosting responsibilities with me.
Your Sunday Read
“Novelty”: An essay by Emmalon Davis. Back in late 2022, we published the final installment of our New Basics series, focusing on philosophy itself. One of the stand-out contributions was this essay by Emmalon Davis. Davis builds her essay around an exploration of the value of novelty in philosophy. If novelty has become the litmus test of the value of a philosopher’s output, as Davis argues is currently the case in academia, what are the problems that emerge from this pursuit? You can read Emmalon’s essay here.
Monday Event: 11am PT/2pm ET/7pm UK
Devotion, Invulnerability, and Fanaticism
Paul Katsafanas in conversation with Urja Lakhani
Why do people persist in commitments that threaten their happiness, security, and comfort? Why do some of our most central, identity-defining commitments resist the effects of reasoning and critical reflection? Drawing on real-life examples, empirical psychology, and philosophical reflection, Paul Katsafanas will argue that these commitments involve an ethical stance called devotion, which plays a pervasive role in human life.
Without devotion, we risk an existential condition called normative dissipation, in which all of our commitments become enfeebled. Yet devotion can easily go wrong, deforming into the individual and group fanaticism that have become pervasive features of modern social life. Therefore, Katsafanas will also provide an alternative to fanaticism, investigating the ways in which we can express non-pathological forms of devotion. You can find out more and register here.
Recording of Reid/Evans conversation
For those of who missed the recent conversation between Julian Reid and Brad Evans on “Technologies of Disappearance”, you can watch the recording here.
Maeve McKeown in London on 26th March
We are delighted to be hosting political theorist Maeve McKeown for a book launch event at London’s Conway Hall on the evening of Tuesday 26th March. Maeve will be discussing her new book With Power Comes Responsibility: The Politics of Structural Injustice with Ashok Kumar. This promises to be a fantastic evening of political and philosophical discussion. You can find out more and buy tickets here.
Ending
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Wishing you all a lovely Sunday, wherever you are.
Anthony Morgan
Editor