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Vanderbilt Modern Philosophy

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The VAMP (Vanderbilt Modern Philosophy) Group is an association, organized by faculty at Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) with the purpose of discussing figures in Modern Philosophy, ranging from the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century, including Early Modern authors, Kant, Hegel, and figures in Romanticism and Idealism. 

The spirit behind the VAMP initiative is to break down walls between neighboring disciplines and foster a sense of communication, cross-contamination, and mutual inspiration. In this sense, events organized by the VAMP group will include participants from several US and worldwide institutions, bridging the divide between Analytic and Continental History of Philosophy.

For the academic year 2020-2021, we are proud to present the VAMP seminar series, which will feature an ensemble of diverse speakers ranging from faculty to graduate students, from post-docs to aficionados. 

In the future, we hope to also organize different kinds of events, including reading groups and more informal conversations.

Please join us on our Facebook group to keep track of all of our activities: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2813189148963473

Organizing committee: Idit Dobbs-Weinstein, Karen Ng, Emanuele Costa.

Upcoming Events

These events will take place via Zoom. If you are not yet on the VAMP listserv, please contact Emanuele Costa at emanuele.costa@vanderbilt.edu to receive the Zoom invitation.
 

February 7th: Oliver Istvan Toth (Graz), Marie Wuth (Hamburg), and Luce deLire (Johns Hopkins). 
 "Spinoza: Freedom, Critique, Conatus".

February 21st: Robert Engelman (Vanderbilt).
"Intellectual Freedom and Cooperative Communication in Kantian Public Reason".

March 7th: Noemi Magnani (Hertfordshire)
"Can education make women free? Wollstonecraft on independence, citizenship, and maternal duties".

March 21st: Natalia Strok (University of Buenos Aires, CONICET, University of La Plata).
"Anne Conway and Augustine of Hippo on Sin and Free Will".

April 4th: Gabriel Gottlieb (Xavier).
"Fichte on Rape".

April 18th: Katarina Peixoto (University of São Paulo ).
"Beyond the reality principle: a further step into a philosophical dialogue between Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes".

All presentations will take place on Zoom at 1 pm CST.

VAMP 2023
 

Past Events

Re-watch the video recordings of past seminars on the Vanderbilt Philosophy Department's YouTube page!

 
May 4th: Zeyad El Nabolsy (Cornell)
"Human Nature and Comparative Anatomy in James Africanus Beale Horton"
El Nabolsy poster
May 9th: "Spinoza's Philosophy of Expression" VAMP workshop
Expression conference poster

Spring 2022 Seminars

February 2nd: So Yun Park (Leuven University)
"Suarezian Physics and Natural Necessity"
February 16th: Michael Kolodziej (University of Chicago)
"The General Type of the Animal: Hegel against Natural Kind Essentialism"
March 2nd: Ryan Albert Foster (Leuven University)
"Two Aspects of Nature in Spinoza's Metaphysics"
March 30th: Jason Yonover (Johns Hopkins)
"Günderrode on Nature, Freedom, and Death"
April 13th: Alberto Luis Lopez (UNAM)
"The Philosophical Naturalist Conception of the Indigenous of America in the 18th Century"

Inaugural Talk 2021-2022

November 3rd at 1:00 pm (Central US Time): Willi Goetschel (University of Toronto), "Difference and Alterity in Spinoza"
 
Goetschel will present VAMP's Inaugural Talk for 2021-2022 on November 3rd at 1:00pm Central US Time.

 

Seminar Series 2020-21

December 9th: Susan James (Birkbeck College)
"Spinoza on Animal Species"
January 13th: Eliza Starbuck Little (University of Chicago)
“Hegel and Schelling on Intuition”
January 27th: Enrico Galvagni (University of St. Andrews)
“The School of Pain: Sophie de Grouchy on Positive Suffering”
February 10th: Richard Eldridge (Swarthmore College)
“Kant’s Philosophical Anthropology”
February 24th: Jonathan Head (Keele University)
“Anne Conway: Monist or Trialist?”
March 3rd: Fatema Amijee (University of British Columbia)
"The Disharmony of Leibniz and Du Châtelet”
March 24th: Stefano Palagiano (University of Urbino)
“Medical perspectives in Francis Bacon’s Sylva Sylvarum”
April 7th: Pietro Ingallina (University of Catania)
“Sympathy for the Devil: An Unexplored Machiavellian Source in Spinoza’s Korte Verhandeling”
April 21st: Karen Ng (Vanderbilt University)
BOOK SESSION - “Hegel's Concept of Life: Self-Consciousness, Freedom, Logic”
Commentary: Kelly M. Swope (Vanderbilt University) and Jason Yonover (Johns Hopkins University) 

May 5th – Paul Richard Blum "Speculation in Nicholas of Cusa and Giordano Bruno: From Natural Theology to Methodic Pantheism" June 2nd – Kimyoung Kim “Spinoza’s Ethics: Three Kinds of Knowledge as Three Kinds of Individuation” July 7th – Jacinto Páez Bonifaci “The Depths of Experience: on the Neo-Kantian Interpretation of the Critical Method” August 4th – Dwight K. Lewis, Jr. “Skeptical about Difference: an Exploration into Inclusive Modern Philosophy”

Summer 2021 Seminar Series:

May 5th: Paul Richard Blum
"Speculation in Nicholas of Cusa and Giordano Bruno: From Natural Theology to Methodic Pantheism" 
June 2nd: Kimyoung Kim
“Spinoza’s Ethics: Three Kinds of Knowledge as Three Kinds of Individuation”
July 7th: Jacinto Páez Bonifaci
“The Depths of Experience: on the Neo-Kantian Interpretation of the Critical Method”
August 4th: Dwight K. Lewis, Jr.
“Skeptical about Difference: an Exploration into Inclusive Modern Philosophy”