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Lewis Gordon: DDT Jabavu Lecture

Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 4th, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Lewis Gordon will be delivering the DDT Jabavu Public Lecture at the University of Fort Hare. This lecture will examine Black Existentialism and Jabavu’s contributions to the topic. Additionally, it will explore the application of these philosophical insights to contemporary and prospective contexts.

The lecture will be held in person in Alice, South Africa, at the University of Fort Hare’s De Beers Gallery at 10:00am SAST (UTC+2:00). If you are interested in watching from home, the lecture will also be livestreamed on YouTube, which you can find by clicking here.

Tracy Llanera: Extremism, Gender, and Science

Congratulations to Dr. Tracy Llanera for her feature in The Philosopher’s Zone’s recent episode, “Extremism, gender and science”. This episode delves into how extremists are weaponizing gender and science in their arguments—an issue that has become increasingly prevalent in today’s political landscape.

You can read an excerpt from the website below:

Extremists used to be easy to spot: they were seen as irrational, unstable and… well, extreme. But in recent years, we’ve seen extremists on the political right laying claim to traditional Enlightenment values – reason, free speech, autonomy, human rights – that were traditionally used as bulwarks against extremism. This is clearly seen in contemporary battles around gender and science.

 

Check out Dr. Tracy Llanera’s interview on ABC’s The Philosopher’s Zone by clicking here.

Michael Hegarty: Publication in Erkenntnis

Congratulations to graduate student, Michael Hegarty, for being accepted for publication in Erkenntnis!

Check out the abstract for Michael Hegarty’s “Transformative Rationality” below:

Transformative Rationality and the Problem of ‘Creeping Rationalism’

According to ‘transformative’ theories of rationality, human rational mental capacities cannot be completely explained using the theories and concepts of natural science because rational mental states stand to one another in irreducibly normative relations of justification. Certain transformative theorists propose that a capacity counts as rational if a ‘Why?’ question is applicable to some exercises of that capacity. But ‘Why?’ questions are in principle applicable to any intentional action, like walking over there, or deliberately holding one’s breath. Transformative rationality therefore seems to entail that capacities for walking or breathing are rational and hence escape complete scientific explanation. Yet it would be surprising to learn that physiology, medicine, and biology could not completely explain such capacities. Given the ‘Why?’ question criterion for a rational capacity, there is a danger of ‘rationality’ creeping into capacities that (one might think) should submit to scientific explanation, and even into sub-individual processes. This is the ‘Problem of ‘Creeping Rationalism’’. After introducing the problem, I consider potential ways a transformative theorist could try to avoid the problem by limiting the scope of what capacities are ‘transformed’ by rationality. I argue that initially promising proposals to do this are either circular or are incompatible with core commitments of the theory.

Lewis Gordon: Spectrum Magazine & The Society of Seventh Day Adventist Philosophers

Congratulations to Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, Lewis Gordon, for his work being featured in Spectrum magazine.

Spectrum, in collaboration with The Society of Seventh Day Adventist Philosophers, will be presenting reflections on Dr. Gordon’s Freedom, Justice, and Decolonization over the next few months leading up to his Londis Lecture in November in San Diego, CA.

Check out the article titled, Africana Thought: Adventist Philosophers on Gordon’s “Freedom, Justice, and Decolonization” – 1.

Lewis Gordon: Recognized as a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts

Congratulations to Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Lewis Gordon, for his recognition as a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts in the U.K.!

Notable fellows of the Royal Society of the Arts include Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Marie Curie, Stephen Hawking, Nelson Mandela, David Attenborough, and Judi Dench.

Congratulations on this incredible recognition, Lewis!

Katie Peters: Featured in Feminist Philosophy Quarterly

Congratulations to graduate student, Katie Peters, for her article, “Not My Fault: Far-Right Women and the Exculpatory Narratives of Misogyny and Infantilization” for being featured in a special issue of Feminist Philosophy Quarterly! The theme of this issue is “Revolutionizing Responsibility.”

Check out Katie’s article: “Not My Fault: Far-Right Women and the Exculpatory Narratives of Misogyny and Infantilization”

Hady Ba: Interview in the APA Series “Black Issues in Philosophy”

Congratulations to Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Hady Ba, for his recent interview in the American Philosophical Association series Black Issues in Philosophy! Dr. Ba sat with UConn student, Rehana Konate, to discuss his insights into contemporary politics as a father and philosopher in Senegal.

 

Check out the interview: “If you become a monster, the fight is not worth it”: An interview with Dr. Ba