10th Annual Association for Political Theory Conference

Thursday, July 26, 2012

10th Annual Association for Political Theory Conference
University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
October 11-13, 2012
Thursday, October 11
6:00-8:00 Opening Reception


Some of the papers scheduled for presentation...

“Optimism about human nature and political theory,” El Amine Loubna, Princeton University (lel@princeton.edu)
“Autocracy and the Foreigner: the Political Thought of Ibn al-Muqaffa',” Jennifer London, Institute for Advanced Study (jlondon@ias.edu)
“Why opposition matters to democracy, but loyalty does not,” Alexander Kirshner, Duke University (kirshner@gmail.com)
“Frederick Douglass and the Narrative Construction of Freedom,” Matthew Voorhees, Hartwick College (voorheesm@hartwick.edu)
“Odious Debts and Global Justice,” Cristian Dimitriu, University of Kansas (c.dimitriu@ku.edu)
“The Tea Party and the Politics of Populist Imagination,” Laura Grattan, Wellesley College (lgrattan@wellesley.edu)
“Democracy and Symbolism in Thucydides,” Rachel Templer, Goucher College (rachel.templer@goucher.edu)
“Performing Political Rhetoric: Diplomatic Speeches and Democratic Deliberation in Xenophon's Hellenika,” Dustin Gish, University of Oklahoma (dgish@ou.edu)
“Advice and Athenian Audience Democracy,” Matthew Landauer, Harvard University (landauer@gmail.com)
“Thucydides on Justice and Political Conflict,” Joshua Miller, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill (millerjp@email.unc.edu)
“The Race of Secular Time,” P. J. Brendese, Haverford College (pbrendes@haverford.edu)
“The Natural Inclination to Persuade: Cicero, Smith, and Sociability,” Daniel J. Kapust, The University of Wisconsin—Madison (djkapust@wisc.edu)
“Poverty, Work and ‘The People’ in Locke's Political Thought,” Emily C. Nacol, Vanderbilt University (emily.c.nacol@vanderbilt.edu)
“Thomas Hobbes and Seventeenth-Century Philosemitism,” Alison McQueen, Stanford University (amcqueen@stanford.edu)
“Should Civic Education be Character Neutral?” Ian MacMullen, Washington University in Saint Louis (macmullen@wustl.edu)
“The Public Sphere in Plato's Laws,” Alex Gottesman, Temple University (gottesman@temple.edu)
“Vaclav Havel and the Practice of Democratic Hope,” Loren Goldman, University of California--Berkeley (lorengoldman@berkeley.edu)
“The Justice of Mercy,” Alex Tuckness, Iowa State University (tuckness@iastate.edu) and John Parrish, Loyola Marymount University (jparrish@lmu.edu)
“Contract and gift in Hobbes’ theory of sovereignty,” Verena Erlenbusch, University of Sussex (v.erlenbusch@sussex.ac.uk)
“A Dangerous Turn: Manipulation and the Politics of Ethos,” Inder Marwah, University of Toronto (inder.marwah@utoronto.ca)

Saturday, July 7, 2012

From Facebook:

The Right wants to believe they are losing the culture wars because everyone is out to get them. When in reality they are losing because they have thrown away their traditional roots and have been selective about when to apply morality. For example, gay marriage and abortion- they appeal to Natural Law and a higher morality. But on finance, medical coverage, and insurance, the Right makes a 180 degree turn and goes all 'social darwinism' on us.

Because when a single mother needs assistance, Jesus is looking over her shoulder and wagging his finger in disapproval. But when we talk about business ethics of the financial industry, all of a sudden Jesus doesn't exist and we are living in Hobbes's state of nature.

How do we keep people from seeing these inconsistencies? De-fund humanities and language programs- the foundations of a conservative world view.

I teach them all the good I can, and recommend them to others from whom I think they will get some moral benefit. And the treasures that the wise men of old have left us in their writings I open and explore with my friends. If we come on any good thing, we extract it, and we set much store on being useful to one another. - Socrates, Memorabilia
 
 
 
What we maintain is that in none of the problems of life can men afford to lose sight of the storehouse bequeathed to them by the ancients. In the complexus of everything which differentiates man from the brute creation, the voice of antiquity must be heard...

-H. Browne, quoted in "Classics and Citizenship" The Classical Quarterly, 1920