Dear Cambridge Philosophers,
As you will see on the Faculty website, I am running a project to bring together the philosophy departments of Cambridge and Peking universities - a project centred around the notion of immateriality in the philosophy of the Long Middle Ages (roughly, from 200- 1700), but in which we hope also to draw on the expertise and interests of those who work in contemporary philosophy. You can find details about the project and the theme at http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/research/immateriality. We have two colloquia planned. One will be in Cambridge, on 14 and 15 July (2015) - i.e. in two months' time, and the other will be in Beijing, in December of this year, after the end of the Cambridge term, but comfortably before Christmas. I am looking both for Cambridge philosophers willing to contribute in some way - a paper, a short paper or a commentary on someone else's presentation - to the Cambridge event, which is called 'Immateriality, Thinking and the Self in the Philosophy of the Long Middle Ages - the analytic perspective on the problem', and also for three or perhaps more Cambridge people who would like to visit Beijing to participate in our colloquium there ('Immateriality, Thinking and the Self in the Philosophy of the Long Middle Ages and its broader context'). For those going to China, our British Academy scheme would pay for airfares, accommodation and board - and there would probably be opportunities to extend the length of your stay and give lectures on subjects of your own special interest at Peking University and/or elsewhere. Participation in the one colloquium does not require participation in the other, although it would be especially valuable if those who are interested in coming to China can be involved in some way in the July Cambridge meeting. I should emphasize that, although the project is framed historically, in a way that reflects the work of my Chinese main collaborator, Tianyue Wu, and myself, we are very much hoping that it will interest those whose work is not, or not mainly, historical. At the heart of the project lies what, I am convinced, is one of the differences between long-medieval and contemporary philosophy which is so fundamental and so obvious that we tend to overlook it - that in the world of medieval philosophers immaterial things have a large role to play, not as abstractions, but as concrete agents. One question we want to ask, and for which we cannot hope to find an answer without the help of those who work as contemporary philosophers, is why such a view seems, to at least many philosophers now, wrong and, indeed, bizarre. A number of you did respond to an initial letter about the project, when I was at the stage of seeking funding. Please do let me know if you are interested in any aspect of this project, especially in the colloquia, whether or not you were in touch after the earlier letter. With best wishes, John John Marenbon ([email protected]) _____________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from the CamPhilEvents mailing list, or change your membership options, please visit the list information page: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEvents List archive: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEventsArchive Please note that CamPhilEvents doesn't accept email attachments. See the list information page for further details and suggested alternatives.
