Perspectives on Existentialism: Panel Discussion

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• Dr Ruth Jackson, Dr Andy Martin, Josh Platzky Miller, Yung In Chae
• Friday 21 October 2016, 19:00-20:30
• The Blythe Room, Clare Colony.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Polina Gordovich.

We are very happy to invite you to the first Philiminality event!

Philiminality is honoured to welcome four exciting speakers to our panel discussion on existentialism.

• Dr Ruth Jackson (Research Fellow at CRASSH ; member of Divinity Faculty) will address the work of two brilliant theological minds of the 19th century, whose thought gave major impetus to the anti-Cartesian philosophy of figures like Martin Heidegger and Martin Buber. We shall consider Søren Kierkegaard, who is heralded as the father of existentialism, and Friedrich Schleiermacher, whose conception of religious belief as a ‘feeling of absolute dependence’ resonates with existentialism’s stress on the givenness of human existence and identity.

• Dr Andy Martin (French Department) will speak about the enduring relevance of existentialism to modern-day issues: “Brexistentialism” with reference to Sartre and Camus. He is the author of a book about the intellectual rivalry between these two thinkers, ‘The boxer and the Goalkeeper’ (2012).

• Josh Platzky Miller (Development Studies PhD candidate) will speak about topics in African existentialism. He will focus on two influential figures in African social and political thought: Frantz Fanon (from Martinique, most well known for his work in Algeria) and Steve Biko (South Africa). Fanon provides incisive critiques of the psychological-political aspects of colonialism and racism, to be replaced by a revolutionary humanism. Biko’s critique of Apartheid South Africa informs his role as a theorist and activist in the Black Consciousness Movement. These engaged philosophers contribute to grounded existentialist thought by emphasising the sociopolitical conditions which shape human existence and structure intersubjective relations. They provide practical considerations for those living in oppressive conditions to resist and overcome their oppression.

• Yung In Chae (Classics MPhil Candidate and Gates Cambridge Scholar) will speak about the intersection of existentialism and feminist philosophy through one of the most famous proponents of both, Simone de Beauvoir, looking at how the two seemingly irreconcilable concepts can work together with examples from De Beauvoir’s own evolution of thought and placing them in their proper historical context. Currently writing a dissertation on the classical references in “The Second Sex,” she has an A.B. in Classics from Princeton University and spent the last year studying History and Civilizations at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales.

This event is free – please come along and bring anyone you think might be interested in this event.

This talk is part of the Philiminality series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Philiminality
• The Blythe Room, Clare Colony

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