[SydPhil] HPS Research Seminar, Monday 3 August 2026 at 5.30pm

[HPS Admin]

School of History and Philosophy of Science

RESEARCH SEMINAR

[The University of Sydney]

[https://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20260729/43/79/64/95/fdd24a437ebeb21a4b77a808_1276x850.jpg]



Proprioception and Knowledge of the External World in the Long 18th Century
Antonia LoLordo (University of Virginia)

Dates: Monday, 03/08/2026
Start Time: 5:30pm
Venue: Madsen Building (F09), Room 331
How to register: Free, no registration required

Website: https://hps-events.sydney.edu.au/<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/AzNmCROND2uRY22LXHXHxf1N4vE?domain=t.e2ma.net>



Abstract: Mary Shepherd says that motion (or the power of motion) is a sixth sense (or sixth sense organ).  I argue that she is talking about proprioception.  Shepherd thus holds that proprioception plays a crucial role in acquiring knowledge of the external world, as well as in acquiring the concepts involved.  I further argue that proprioception plays a role in knowledge of the external world for many of her predecessors as well—for example, the Berkeley of the New Theory, Condillac, Hume, and Reid—although unlike Shepherd, they do not distinguish proprioception from the sense of touch.

Bio: Antonia LoLordo is George C. and Clare F. Downing Memorial Professor at the University of Virginia.  Her work includes Pierre Gassendi and the Birth of Early Modern Philosophy (Cambridge), Locke’s Moral Man (Oxford), an edition of Mary Shepherd’s Essays on the Perception of an External Universe (Oxford), and Mary Shepherd (Cambridge), as well as articles on Cugoano, Descartes, Edwards, Gassendi, Hume, Locke, Malebranche, and Shepherd.  She is currently working on a book on proprioception and knowledge of the external world in the 18th century.






[https://images.e2ma.net/0/images/templates/spacer.gif]







[The University of Sydney]

Keep in touch

[Facebook]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/FQFPCVARKgC5BGGA8FMI4fERI8q?domain=t.e2ma.net>

[Twitter]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/uUHJCWLVXkUP3JJB8FrSxfo7MDL?domain=t.e2ma.net>

[Instagram]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/qzvDCXLW2mUqAwwYZuETkfWR5yc?domain=t.e2ma.net>

[LinkedIn]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/UOtBCYW8NocNYrrxXT4UZfx35TL?domain=t.e2ma.net>

[YouTube]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/7ugZCZY1NqiDvJJNYT9cNfBUtKg?domain=t.e2ma.net>

Copyright © 2026 The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
Phone +61 2 9351 2222 ABN 15 211 513 464 CRICOS Number: 00026A

Please add hps.admin at sydney.edu.au<mailto:hps.admin at sydney.edu.au> to your address book or senders safe list to make sure you continue to see our emails in the future.

Manage<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/jgeNCOMKzVT0YWWKkc5uzfG3PSb?domain=app.e2ma.net> your preferences | Opt out<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/kwGjCP7LAXfogppxncBC2fxL_Ka?domain=t.e2ma.net> using TrueRemove®
Got this as a forward? Sign up<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/OSzdCQnMBZf3V00WLIQFmfGnNR2?domain=app.e2ma.net/> to receive our future emails.
View this email online<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/bE5PCJyBrGf1ONNYosVf9fyAfgu?domain=t.e2ma.net>.



Disclaimer<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/AKhTC1WLPxckgVVYXuqfkfVrvGA?domain=t.e2ma.net> | Privacy statement<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/VDjpC2xMQziRrMMwQHQhxf5jLZ3?domain=t.e2ma.net> | University of Sydney<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/eFR-C3QNPBiG3nnQvTwiPfQ0wZQ?domain=t.e2ma.net>