events Nov 2017

Pantheism and Panentheism workshop

Pantheism and Panentheism Workshop

Tuesday 28 November, 12.30-5.10pm.

University of Birmingham, Learning Centre room LG 14. It’s building R28 on the map at: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/university/edgbaston-campus-map.pdf

Philevents page: https://philevents.org/event/show/35762

Workshop description

The Royal Institute of Philosophy Birmingham Branch, and John Templeton Foundation-funded Pantheism and Panentheism Project<https://sites.google.com/site/pantheismandpanentheismproject/> at the University of Birmingham will host an informal workshop on pantheism and panentheism.

Pantheism is the view that God is identical with the universe. Panentheism is the view that the universe is part of God. These views are radically different from traditional theism, which says that God is an all-powerful, all-loving creator that is ontologically distinct from the universe. Pantheism and panentheism have a long history since ancient Greece and many prominent philosophers, theologians and scientists—such as Nicholas of Cusa, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, T. H. Green, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking—have defended or expressed sympathy with them. Yet, there has been very little discussion of these views in philosophy and theology as they have focused nearly exclusively on traditional theism.

The aim of this workshop is to create opportunities for philosophers to present their latest work on pantheism and panentheism to students and the general public.

The timetable for the workshop is:

— 12.30 – 1.50: Yujin Nagasawa (University of Birmingham), “Pantheism, Panpsychism, and Cosmopsychism”

— 1.50 – 2.00: Break

–2.00 – 3.20: Sam Lebens (University of Haifa), “God and His Imaginary Friends: Acosmism, Pantheism and Priority Monism”

— 3.20 – 3.50: Refreshments

— 3.50 – 5.10: Mikael Stenmark (University of Uppsala), “Panentheism and Its Rivals”

This event is free and open to all.

Registration is not required, but please let the organisers know if you’re planning to attend, just so that we have an idea of what numbers to expect.

Organisers

If you have any questions about the workshop, please feel welcome to contact the organisers:

— Yujin Nagasawa: Y.Nagasawa@bham.ac.uk<mailto:Y.Nagasawa@bham.ac.uk>

— Nick Jones: n.k.jones@bham.ac.uk<mailto:n.k.jones@bham.ac.uk>

London Spinoza Circle

At the next meeting of the London Spinoza Circle we are very pleased to have Dr Andrea Sangiacomo (University of Groningen) who will speak on Spinoza’s account of common notions and the origin of rational ideas.

The meeting will take place on Thursday 30th November, 3pm-5pm in the Paul Hirst Room, Department of Politics, Birkbeck College, at 10 Gower Street London WC1E 6HJ,

Abstract

An everlasting controversy in Spinoza scholarship concerns the origin of rational ideas. Two parties have been opposing each other. According to the empiricist approach, ideas of reason somehow derive from imagination, while innatism holds that they are built upon innate ideas. In this paper, I propose a revised version of the empiricist approach that is capable of fully accounting for Spinoza’s position.I argue that reason and imagination express different ways in which the body interacts with external causes. Imaginative ideas are the mental counterpart of interactions based on some form of disagreement in nature between the human body and external causes, while rational ideas based on common notions are the mental expression of agreement in nature between the human body and external cases. This reading of common notions as an expression of some degree of “agreement in nature” (natura convenire) among things leads to appreciate of the often neglected difference between universal and proper common notions, which in turns enables Spinoza to account for different degrees of generality that rational ideas can have.

All are welcome and no registration is required.

Please put these dates of future meetings in your diary.

January 25th, 2018 – Christopher Thomas (University of Aberdeen)

February 15th, 2018 – Prof Yitzhak Melamed (Johns Hopkins University)

March 1st, 2018 – Dr Daniel Whistler (Royal Holloway)

March 22nd, 2018 – Dr Alexander Douglas (St Andrews University)