[SydPhil] University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series, June and July Seminars

[Ryan Cox]

Hi everyone,

We have several out-of-semester seminars scheduled across June and July in the University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series. Here they are for your convenience:


  *   Wednesday June 4, Benjamin McKean, (Ohio State University)
  *   Wednesday June 18, Finnur Dellsén, (University of Iceland)
  *   Wednesday June 25, Tina Firing, (University of Iceland)
  *   Friday July, 11, Niko Kolodny, (University of California, Berkeley)

The usual email for each talk will come out on the Monday beforehand. Here’s the mailout for this week:

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This week's speaker in the University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series is Benjamin McKean, (Ohio State University)

The title of the talk is "Is despair an obstacle to climate justice?". Here is an abstract for the talk:

Is hope a prerequisite to political action against climate catastrophe? Is despair of making no difference a major obstacle to such action? Many assume the answer to both questions is yes. Advocates like Andreas Malm argue that we need to demonstrate the efficacy of individual action today to thwart despair while philosophers like Allen Thompson draw from Jonathan Lear’s conception of “radical hope” to argue that we have reason to be hopeful about a future beyond our present understanding. But these approaches to generating hope don’t engage effectively with our political context, in which few people experience political efficacy. And they lack an adequate moral psychology, which I show through an analysis of Malm’s critique of pacifism. Unfortunately, despair is an appropriate response to our circumstances. In place of trying to generate hope, I argue that we need a more present-oriented approach to motivating people to act for climate justice that doesn’t depend on uncertain future effects.

The seminar will take place at 3:30pm on Wednesday Jun 4 in the Philosophy Seminar Room (N494).

Enquiries about the seminar series can be directed to ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au

Ryan Cox
Associate Lecturer in Philosophy
Discipline of Philosophy
School of Humanities
University of Sydney
ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au
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