Yale-NUS philosophy research seminar: “Socrates’ Final Symposium” by Matt Walker

Dear all,

Matt Walker will be presenting his paper “Socrates’ Final Symposium” this Wednesday, 30 March from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM (abstract below). We will meet as usual in RC2-01-09F.

Directions to the seminar: On the campus map that I have attached, the Oculus is the circular area with a taxi icon, right next to College Avenue West. The room (RC2-01-09F) is directly south of the Oculus, in the area labeled “EC1” on the map. Simply enter the building from the Oculus and take the elevator to the top floor.

Campus map - overhead

Abstract: I briefly sketch the outline of a revisionary reading of Plato’s Phaedo. On traditional readings, the dialogue gives us Socrates’ defense of the soul’s unqualified immortality, i.e., the soul’s capacity for eternal and individual existence in separation from the body. On such readings, Socrates aims to meet Cebes’ demand that he show “that the soul still exists after a man has died and that it still possesses some capability and intelligence” (70b). I agree that the Phaedo, through the figure of Socrates, accepts that we are immortal. But the sort of immortality that Socrates accepts in the Phaedo, I propose, is only the qualified immortality that he endorses in the Symposium. Reading the Phaedo through the lens of the Symposium, I suggest, brings to light nuances of the Phaedo that commentators have overlooked. It also pays other interpretive dividends.

Best,

Neil

Neil Mehta

Assistant professor of philosophy

Yale-NUS College

www.profneilmehta.com

Book Launch: Political Legitimacy in Asia

Update: Some Photos from the Event

    

    

* * * * * * * * * *

You are cordially invited to the launch of

Political Legitimacy in Asia – New Leadership Challenges, edited by John Kane, Hui-chieh Loy and Haig Patapan

Palgrave Macmillian Series on Asian Governance

To be launched by Dr. Lam Peng Er (Senior Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore) * 19 December 2011, 3 pm to 4:30 pm, FASS Faculty Lounge (L2, The Deck); Refreshments will be served

Political Legitimacy in Asia is an edited collection that explores the theory and practice of political legitimacy in contemporary Asia. Bringing together internationally recognized scholars of comparative politics and political philosophy, the book marks a contemporary re-examination of legitimacy in the region. Expansive in scope, with a detailed and nuanced analysis of 11 countries, the book explores the realistically available options for modernizing Asian nations seeking to shore up their legitimacy as they become more deeply enmeshed in the international order.

For more information and RSVP, email: philoyhc@nus.edu.sg. The book will be available for purchase from Palgrave Macmillian at a special launch price at the event. (Download invitation flyer.)

Continue reading