Spinoza: Ethics, Interpretation and Power York University, February 1-2, 2008

In early February of 2008, students in the Graduate Programmes in Social and Political Thought, Political Science and Philosophy at York University will be hosting a two day interdisciplinary symposium entitled, "Spinoza: Ethics, Interpretation and Power."

On the first day, we have the privilege of hosting three eminent Spinoza scholars: Warren Montag (Bodies, Masses, Power: Spinoza and his Contemporaries: Verso, 1999), Brayton Polka (Between Philosophy and Religion: Spinoza, the Bible, and Modernity, 2 vols.: Lexington Press, 2007), and Willi Goetschel (Spinoza's Modernity: Mendelssohn, Lessing, and Heine: University of Minnesota Press, 1997). Each of these participants has agreed to present a paper which responds to the following series of specific questions: What is the relationship of ethics, interpretation and power in Spinoza? What demands does examination of that relationship place upon the reader? How does that relationship come alive for us today? How are we to understand the connection among Spinoza's three major treatise (Ethics, Theological-Political Treatise, Political Treatise)? Each of these papers will be followed by a respondent and the day will conclude with a plenary session in which Professors Goetschel, Montag, and Polka will be discussing and debating the themes that have arisen throughout the day.

Call for graduate student participation

In the spirit of collaborative, interdisciplinary research, we would like to turn the second day of the symposium into a unique setting for graduate students to share and discuss their ideas on Spinoza. We invite abstracts of no more than 300 words from graduate students who would be interested in presenting a paper at the symposium. Those who are invited to participate will be asked to give a twenty minute presentation that can provide the focus for a sustained conversation on important aspects of Spinoza's thought. Presentations need not be essays as such but we do require a sustained and committed argument which fits the general theme of the conference. Students are welcome to present their own answers to the aforementioned series of questions, or they may wish to pursue lines of thought which they see as crucial to the thinking through of Spinoza. It is our hope and expectation that any student chosen to participate in the symposium will be present for both days of the symposium.

Please forward abstracts to spinoza.symposium@gmail.com by no later than November 30th, 2007