Fordham Philosophy: Aristotle in the 21st Century

Papers from the conference are now available for download (.pdf). Thanks for your patience. Enjoy!

(in order of presentation)

“Cosmpolitanism Democracy in Times of Globalization”
Stijn Van Impe, Ghent University

“Corporate Education: Hegel’s Vision of Personal Transformation Through Community”
Zane Yi, Fordham University

“Pragmatism and Human Rights”
Joseph Hoover, London School of Economics and Political Science

“The Critique of the Rights Indigenous People and Other Ethnic Minorities in International Law””
Nika Berdichevskaya, University of Toronto
“Value Pluralism and Political Pluralism: Two Problems”
Kei Hiruta, Wolfson College, University of Oxford

“Reawakening the Christian Sense of Locke’s Tolerance”
Andrew Komasinski, Fordham University

“Between Imperialism and Indifference: Toward (Self-) Critical Cosmopolitanisms”
Jakeet Singh, University of Toronto

“Rawls on International Justice”
Jacob Affolter, University of California, Riverside

“Beyond Hospitality: Cosmopolitanism and Republican Citizenship in Kant’s Political Philosophy”
Nick Zavediuk, Saint Louis University

“Theories of ‘Recognition’ and the Case of the Ainu Minority in Japan”
Tejaswinhi Srinivas, Yale University

Registration for the conference tomorrow begins at 12:30pm. All of the main conference sessions will be held in the O’Hare room, which is on the top floor of Walsh library, and the registration table will be at the entrance to the O’Hare room. Some resources:

Library maps
Campus map
Conference program

Also note that there is a banquet on Saturday night and all conference attendees are welcome. The cost is $35 per person.

Below is the current version of the conference schedule. Any updates or changes will be posted here, and we’ll have information soon about travel, directions, etc.

Cosmopolitanism in Philosophical Contexts: The Vision of the
Universal and Attachments to the Particular

Fordham Philosophical Society’s
Fourth Biennial Graduate Student Conference
Fordham University, New York
April 11-12, 2008

Friday, April 11, 2008

12:30pm Registration – O’Hare Special Collections Room, Walsh Library
1:15pm Opening Remarks

AFTERNOON SESSION
O’Hare Special Collections Room, Walsh Library

1:30pm “Cosmopolitan Democracy in Times of Globalization”
Stijn Van Impe, Ghent University
Respondent: David Storey, Fordham University
2:30pm “Corporate Education: Hegel’s Vision of Personal Transformation”
Zane Yi, Fordham University
Respondent: Daniel Whitcomb Ambord, Loyola Marymount
3:30pm “Pragmatism and Human Rights”
Joseph Hoover, London School of Economics and Political Science
Respondent: Pablo Kalmanovitz, Columbia University
4:30pm “The Critique of the Rights Indigenous People and other Ethnic Minorities in International Law”
Nika Berdichevskaya, University of Toronto
Respondent: Scott O’Leary, Fordham University
5:30pm Break for dinner

7:30pm PLENARY ADDRESS
Keating Third
John Davenport
Fordham University
“From Locke to Habermas: Human Rights
and a New Federation of Democracies”

9:00pm RECEPTION
Keating Third

Saturday, April 12, 2008

9:00am CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

MORNING SESSION
O’Hare Special Collections Room, Walsh Library

9:30am “Value Pluralism and Political Pluralism: Two Problems”
Kei Hiruta, Wolfson College, University of Oxford
Respondent: Dan Fincke, Fordham University
10:30am “Reawakening the Christian Sense of Locke’s Tolerance”
Andrew Komasinski, Fordham University
Respondent: Yun-Chan Wu, New School University
11:30am “Between Imperialism and Indifference: Toward (Self-) Critical Cosmopolitanisms”
Jakeet Singh, University of Toronto
Respondent: Ana Janssen, Fordham University

12:30pm BREAK FOR LUNCH

AFTERNOON SESSION
O’Hare Special Collections Room, Walsh Library

1:30pm “Rawls on International Justice”
Jacob Affolter, University of California, Riverside
Respondent: Daniel Cordes, Columbia University
2:30pm “Beyond Hospitality: Cosmopolitanism and Republican Citizenship in Kant’s Political Philosophy”
Nick Zavediuk, Saint Louis University
Respondent: Alfonso Vergaray, University of Toronto
3:30pm “Theories of ‘Recognition’ and the Case of the Ainu Minority in Japan”
Tejaswinhi Srinivas, Yale University
Respondent: Aline Ramos, Fordham University

4:30pm KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Flom Auditorium
Seyla Benhabib
Yale University
“Cosmopolitanism and the
Human Right to Democracy”

6:00pm RECEPTION
Walsh Library
7:00pm BANQUET
Location tbd

The conference call for papers is now available. You can download it as a pdf or as a Word doc, or view the text version below:

Fordham Philosophical Society’s
Fourth Biennial Graduate Student Conference

April 11-13, 2008
Fordham University
Bronx, New York

cosmopolitanism in philosophical contexts
the vision of the universal and attachments to the particular

Keynote speaker: Seyla Benhabib (Yale)
Plenary speaker: John Davenport (Fordham)

The current debate between cosmopolitan and communitarian thinkers revolves around the tension between moral universalism and particular cultures. While the conversation has been largely situated in the areas of political science, legal discourse, and human rights, the questions it raises are rooted in broader philosophical discussions. The issues of public reason (and public space), life-world, language and world-view, communication across porous boundaries, rights and the good, and metaphysics of the rights-bearing self both have their origins in and open new possibilities for philosophical investigations. Philosophical discourse itself is challenged in how to take these concrete global problems seriously, including its own situatedness in a particular historical and political context.

We invite papers from all philosophical traditions to address these concerns. Topics could include, but need not be limited to:

• Citizenship, membership or rights for aliens, residents, or indigenous peoples
• Problems of translation; literature, margins, and the untranslatable
• Natural law and public reason
• The local and familiar in relation to the global
• History of cosmopolitanism as a value (for the Greeks, Kant, or more recent thinkers)
• The role of philosophy in these disputes
• Universal or moral rights and political rights
• Political/personal/moral autonomy with respect to community and law
• Social ontology and social groups

The deadline for submissions is December 1, 2007.

Papers and abstracts should be prepared for blind review. Papers should be no longer than 25 minutes
(about 15 pages) in length. Accepted papers will be presented and responded to in hour-long sessions
without the distraction of simultaneous presentations.

Send abstracts or papers to:
conference@fordhamphilosophy.org

The next graduate student conference will be in spring 2008. The conference theme, keynote speaker, and call for papers will be announced in the next month or two.