Previous Events

Wed. Nov. 30th. 2011 *** Event Cancelled ****

Wed. Oct. 5th. FCH Room HC203. Dr. John Hockey, University of Gloucestershire. “Embodied Ideology: the Case of the Infantry” .In this talk, John Hockey discusses how the military organisation, which constitutes the cutting edge of the state, socialises its members into particular values and norms, and also into particular somatic practices. This will be examined using actual fieldwork data from participation observation with Infantry. John is the author of ‘Squaddie’ (Exeter University Press). He was awarded in 2010 a Sage/British Sociological Association prize for sociological innovation, for his published paper on this topic. Will members please note that the research for his book 'Squaddie' was not conducted whilst John was still a serving soldier (stated in the earlier description): this is purely my (H.C.) error, and I apologise to the author.

Wed. Oct. 26th. 2011. Norwood Arms, Bath Rd., Cheltenham. 10.30.a.m. GPS Seminar: “ The Bazarov Formula: A decent chemist is worth twenty poets”. Must the arts (literary, dramatic, representational, dramatic, etc.) justify their place in the sun by virtue of their usefulness, or do they offer crucial relief from everyday practical imperatives, or insights into them? Or what? And do they need to justify their existence; if so, to whom? For further details CLICK HERE.

Wed. Nov.2nd. 2011, 7.30.p.m.FCH Room HC203. Professor Esther Leslie, Birkbeck, University of London: “Walter Benjamin: Seminal Thinker”.
Esther Leslie will discuss the writings of one of the most important thinkers of the Twentieth Century, analysing his work on philosophy, culture and politics. She is the author of ‘Walter Benjamin: Overcoming Conformism’, Pluto Press.

Wed.Nov. 9th. 2011. FCH Room HC203. Malcolm Pritchard and Harry Cowen (Gloucestershire Philosophical Society): “The University of the Future: What Role For Philosophy?”.
In the current period of material uncertainty, the humanities, including philosophy, are coming under attack. Yet in recent decades major intellectual works have appeared in political and social philosophy, ethics, philosophy of mind, etc. So what is happening to the nature of the university? What will/should be the role of philosophy in higher education?

Wed. Nov. 30th. 2011 *** Event Cancelled ****

Dr. Oren Ben-Dor, University of Southampton: “The temporal persistence of differend: reflections on Art, Truth and Practical Reason.” : Reading Heidessger and Spinoza, the talk discusses how mortals are as nature, and how this relationship originates in the primordial truth of unconcealement. Reinterpreting Lyotard, Oren focuses on the temporal, material and political aspects of this relationship. Oren is the author of 'Thinking About Law: In silence with Heidegger', 2007. .

Wed. Dec. 7th. 2011. 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203. Professor Alessandra Tanesini, Cardiff University: “Science, Values and Impartiality”. In this talk Alessandra Tanesini examines and ultimately rejects the view that science must be autonomous, value neutral and impartial. Instead she defends the claim that ethical and political values are an inevitable part of science and that at least in some cases their influence on scientific knowledge is positive. (Please note that before the talk there will be a short AGM.)

Wed. May 11th. 2011, 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203. Harry Cowen, University of Gloucestershire. ‘The Politics of Human Nature: A Study of Power and Authority’.
The talk focuses on the conservative orientation towards power relations and authority, unpicking the ‘human nature’ assumptions underpinning tradition, power and social change.

Wed. May 18th. 2011. 10.30.a.m. Brown Jug, Leckhampton. Society Seminar. Topic: “The Enemies of Truth”.
The search for truth in this or that field of enquiry faces many obstacles: the spread of falsehood and the actual suppression of the search by coercion being two enduring enemies. Why is this? How can such obstacles be removed or avoided?
For further details CLICK HERE.

Wed. May 25th. 2011, 7.30.p.m. FCH, Room HC203. Chris Eddy, Convener, Swindon Philosophical Society. ‘Sexual Politics.’
“The Lords and Commons should be abolished and replaced by two chambers, one for men and the other for women. Each constituency should have two members, a man elected only by men, and a woman elected only by women”.

Wed. June 1st.2011. 7. p.m. Bottelinos Restaurant, St .James St., Cheltenham. Society Annual Dinner. Please let Paul Jenkins know by e-mail whether you are coming.

Wed. June 15th, 2011. Dr. William Large, ‘The Meaning of the Other in Emmanuel Levinas’ ‘Totality and Infinity’.
This year is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Levinas’ ‘Totality and Infinity’, perhaps one of the most important books published in phenomenology in the Twentieth Century. The topic of this book is ethics, which Levinas situates in the experience of the other who faces me. In this talk, Dr. Large will examine the two meanings of the Other in Levinas’ seminal text, and whether there is any conflict between them.

Wed. January 19th. 2011, 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203. Dr. Donald Cameron, Philosophy Convener, Bath Royal Scientific and Literary Institute. "Ethics After Darwin". Since 1859 the idea of natural selection has profoundly influenced ethical thought. But many of the ideas, ranging from eugenics to Hitler, have been completely misguided. Despite this, modern work on the evolutionary origin of altruism cannot be ignored.

Wed. Feb. 2nd. 2011. 10.30.a.m. Society Seminar. Convener Sean Hennessey: "Bureaucracy". The seminar is an examination of this much used but rarely examined concept, once perceived as liberal and progressive, now often the source of pejorative comment. But what are the alternatives?

Wed. Feb. 16th. 2011, 7.30.p.m. FCH. Prof. Mike McNamee, Swansea University. "The idea of ethical expertise. " In recent years, there has been considerable discussion of the nature and purpose of ethicists, e.g., medical, in the public domain. But is their work susceptible of expertise? Prof. McNamee argues against the ideal, and argues for their ancient Greek concepts of techne (craft knowledge) and phronesis (practical wisdom).

Wed. March 2nd. 2011. 7.30.p.m. FCH. Dr. Laurence Chase, ex-University of Kent at Canterbury. "Moral Philosophy as Academic Non-sense." The talk will offer a general critique of the way academic philosophers characterise 'morality', and suggest better ways to approach the subject.

Wed. March 16th. 2011. 7.30.p.m. FCH. Dr. Alan Ford, University of Gloucestershire. "Modernism, Madness and Alienation." The talk will provide an introduction to, and brief exploration of, some key characteristics of modernism, chiefly in the visual arts, in the light of notions of madness and alienation.

Wed. Oct. 6th.2010. 7.30.p.m. Uni. of Gloucestershire, FCH,Cheltenham, Room HC203. Dr. Christopher Hamilton, King's College, London University. '"The roof of the mind and the tide of the soul": The talk explores philosophically a number of the moods and experiences typical of middle age, and in this respect ...attempts a proper understanding of human experience and thought.
 

Wed. Oct.20th 10.30.a.m.The Brown Jug, Bath Rd., Leckhampton, Cheltenham. Society Seminar. 'Balance: synthesis, fusion or con?

‘Balance’ – Synthesis, Fusion, or Con?   A GPS Seminar

As the UK watches its new-found coalition government, time-worn talk of ‘finding a balance’ has received a boost.  But what is this ‘balance’?  Borrowed from such fields as physics and mechanics, it raises plenty of philosophical issues.  Is it an Aristotelian golden mean, to which we all should aspire, an Hegelian synthesis, or just a flabby compromise?  Do ‘balances’ arising out of social discourse self-sustain, or do they require servicing – and are they inherently unstable, containing the seeds of their own destruction?  What are the social roles and purposes of the hard-liner, or the moderator?  Is the wish to ‘find a balance’ necessarily a surrender, or cop-out? These, and related existential matters will be debated at the Brown Jug, Leckhampton on 20 October 2010.  Whether we achieve a lasting and balanced outcome remains highly problematic.

 

Wed. Oct. 27th 7.30.p.m FCH, Room HC203.Dr. Emily Ryall, University of Gloucestershire: 'Beyond human: conceptualising the athlete in a future of sport and technology'.
 

Wed. Nov. 10th 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203. Dr.Angie Hobbs, Associate Professor, University of Warwick. 'Plato and Love'.
Dr. Hobbs is one of the country's leading classical philosophers, and has become the U.K's first Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy.
 

Wed. Nov. 17th. 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203. Dr. Will Large, University of Gloucestershire.: 'Heidegger and the meaning of History'. The talk will focus on Heidegger's "Being and Time", and will consider the significance of experience and the pertinence of the history of science in understanding this seminal work.
 

Wed. Dec. 1st. 7.30.p.m. FCH Room HC203.  Professor Simon Barker, University of Gloucestershire. 'War and Shakespeare'. The talk will discuss Prof.Barker's book ""War and Nation in the Theatre of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries, in an attempt to answer the perennial question 'why war?'.
The talk will be preceded by a short Society AGM.
 

17 March 2010 Oskar Macgregor, Oxford University
'Peter Singer and the Status of Moral Reasoning'

3 March 2010 Professor Dennis Smith, Loughborough University.
'The World in 2050'

24 Feb 2010 Harry Cowen and Malcolm Pritchard, Gloucestershire Philosophical Society.
'Inequality, Fairness and the Threat to Social Progress'

Feb 17 2010 Brown Jug Seminar
'Corruption'

Feb 10 2010 Neil Richards, Gloucestershire Philosophical Society
'The significance of R G Collingwood and the Philosophy of History'

Jan 27 2010 Professor Mark Johnson, De Montfort University.
'Can there be a policy for social diversity'

Nov 4th 2009. Dr. Alison Scott-Baumann, University of Gloucestershire.
"Darwin's influence upon modern philosophy".

Oct 28th. Leckhampton Seminar. "Hypocrisy. Dissonance between reach and grasp in human interaction."

Oct 7th. Professor Lawrence Wilde, Nottingham Trent University will talk on "Marx and Environmentalism".

11/03/2009:  Ted Ravenhill from the University of Gloucestershire.
Topic: Movement literacy a philosophical challenge to the world of PE

25/02/2009:  Leckhampton Seminar
Topic: Celebrity a social or technological creation?

28/01/2009:  Harry Cowen from the University of Gloucestershire.
Topic: Theodor Adorno : Radical criteric or cultural elitist?

14/01/2009:  Dr Christine Battersby of Warwick University.
Topic: The Sublime and Nietzsche