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Department Colloquia

Samuel Freeman Career Celebration Colloquium

After 36 years of extraordinary teaching and service to the field of philosophy, Professor Samuel Freeman retired in June 2021.  
 
In recognition of his contribution to Penn Philosophy over his career, the department will be holding a colloquium in his honor, featuring a series of talks and reflections given by previous students and current colleagues. This event includes a catered reception on Friday, April 29th. 
 
Schedule of Events
Panel 1

Sixth MAP-Penn Conference: Philosophy of Disability and Illness

The 6th annual MAP-Penn conference: Philosophy of Disability and Illness will be held on April 8th - 10th, 2022.  This conference focuses on aspects of Philosophy of Disability and Philosophy of Illness. This includes, but is not limited to, disability- and/or illness-related conceptual and normative issues in philosophy of law, in medical ethics, in bioethics, in general ethics, in the history of philosophy, in social and political philosophy, in social epistemology, in one’s personal experiences as a philosopher, and in teaching practices.
 

Susan Sauvé Meyer Career Celebration Colloquium

After 34 years of extraordinary teaching and service to the field of philosophy, Professor Susan Sauvé Meyer retired in December.  In recognition of her contribution to Penn Philosophy over her career, the department will be holding a colloquium in her honor, featuring a series of talks and reflections given by previous students and current colleagues. This event includes a catered breakfast, lunch, and reception on Friday, April 1st. 

Seybert Lecture: Elizabeth Anderson

Lecture 2:  Institutionalizing the Pro-Worker Work Ethic Today
 
Abstract: The Pro-worker work ethic came closest to realization in social democracy, a model of how to organize work and the broader economy that arose primarily in postwar Northern Europe.  Although social democracy has suffered setbacks in recent decades, I argue that it provides a valuable starting point for reconstructing the organization of work in the 21st century.  In particular, it offers resources for considering how workers' dignity and autonomy can be enhanced by democratizing work.

Dr. Sabina Vaccarino Bremner, Kant on the Autonomy of Ideas and the Unity of Reason

Abstract: In the Groundwork and all three Critiques, Kant expresses the hope of eventually unifying theoretical and practical reason in one system, with a principle common to both. But Kant never tells us what such a principle is, leaving scholars to advance different possibilities. In this talk, I elaborate a new response to this problem.

Dr. Olga Lenczewska, Kant on Moral Education and the Origins of Humanity

Abstract: Kant’s views on human history and progress have been widely studied by those interested in his political, historical, and pedagogical writings. But commentators have rarely discussed Kant’s speculative account of the origins of humanity or the circumstances surrounding the beginning of our history. Implicit in such an omission is the assumption that whatever Kant says about this topic is of little philosophical value and does not neatly fit into his critical philosophy. In my talk I will challenge these assumptions. Specifically, I will defend two claims.

Eye, Mind and Image: Themes from Visual Studies

This symposium features alumni of the Visual Studies program and former TAs of the 101 class. 
It is a chance to stop and reflect on the riches that the interdisciplinarity of the Visual Studies program offers to thinking in the arts, history, philosophy and the sciences through the example of one of the founders of our program, Gary Hatfield. 
 
Program Talks:
Sasha Igdalova, Goldsmith College, "Optimized art viewing in the gallery: practicing neuroaesthetics in an ecologically-valid setting"