Maimon Reading (Preliminary) Schedule

UPDATE (5/3): So I revised the run-down: chapters are very uneven length-wise, so I combined them (expect for Chapter 1 to get things going and Chapter 2 since it is the largest) – see below. I think that putting “Short Overview of the Whole Work” at the end makes sense as it is a separate sort of work and deserves a bit of separate attention (I think). Last two weeks are dealing with two important supplements that, I hope, would be more accessible (and interesting) after the discussion of the argument(s) of the Essay itself.

So this way we can be done in 8-9 weeks. Some have already emailed me and identified specific chapters they are interested in, so eventually I’ll put together the final run-down (upon consultations with others).

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Just a very quick run down of chapters and dates for the planned reading of Maimon’s Essay on Transcendental Essay.

I know that several people already expressed interest in participating – some in a general sort of way, some with particular sections/chapters in mind. More details later. Since there’s still plenty of time to decide and organize this, I’m posting a list of dates/chapters just to get things going a bit. Jon Cogburn requested we being on June 15th, I moved it slightly to June 14th since it’s a Monday. I’m perfectly fine with doing both 6/7 and 6/14 if no one volunteers to cover those areas. Hopefully this will be as much fun as last summer’s Lee Braver reading exercise.

I’ll post more details as things get closer (and clearer in terms of who’s doing what).

Again, anyone interested – email me at mikh.emelianov@gmail.com (if you haven’t done so already).

6/7 – Why Maimon? Preliminary Issues (Introduction to the Translation, Dedication, Introduction, ix-lxvi, 1-10)

6/14 – Chapter 1 (11-18): Matter, Form of Cognition, Form of Sensibility.

6/21 – Chapter 2 (19-43): Sensibility, Imagination, Understanding.

6/28 – Chapter 3 & 4 (44-55): Ideas of Understanding / Subject and Predicate – The Determinable and the Determination.

7/5 – Chapter 5 & 6 (56-67): Thing, Possible, Necessary, Ground, Consequence / Identity, Difference, Opposition, Reality, Logical and Transcendental Negation.

7/12 – Chapter 7 & 8 (68-79): Magnitude / Alteration, Change.

7/19 – Chapter 9 & 10 (80-89): Truth / Materialism, Idealism.

7/26 – Supplements I (90-125): Short Overview of the Whole Work.

8/2 – Supplements II (126-172): “My Ontology” and “On Symbolic Cognition and Philosophical Language”

Ah, Well Now It Makes Sense.

Despite the argument that Arizona’s new law was supposed to deal with illegal immigrants only, it’s stories such as this that show the obvious fact that it’s nothing but good old xenophobia and racism.

In the 1990s, Arizona hired hundreds of teachers whose first language was Spanish as part of a broad bilingual-education program. Many were recruited from Latin America.

Then in 2000, voters passed a ballot measure stipulating that instruction be offered only in English. Bilingual teachers who had been instructing in Spanish switched to English.

Ms. Dugan said some schools hadn’t been complying with the state law that made English the only language in the classroom. “Our job is to make sure the teachers are highly qualified in fluency of the English language. We know districts that have a fluency problem,” she said.

So you hired teachers with Spanish language and then you told them to switch to English (because that’s more important then, I don’t know, education), and now you’re complaining that their English is accented and ungrammatical. I wonder if this regulation will apply to non-hispanics? No, I don’t mean Russians, I mean those folks whose English, despite being their native tongue, is still accented and ungrammatical? Who decides what is “accented” and what sort of grammatical mistakes are “ungrammatical”? Ireckin praally not

Idiocy everywhere – run!

A Portrait of Eliane Radigue (2009)

Can’t embed flash on WordPress, so it’s just a link. A short video about Eliane Radigue.

A Portrait of Eliane Radigue (2009) from Maxime Guitton on Vimeo.

Axing Successful Programs: The Case of Middlesex

Across the world there are administrators making piss poor decisions in response to budget crises. Add another one to the list.

Via Infinite Thought:

University News – Philosophy at Middlesex

Wednesday 28 April

MIDDLESEX TO CLOSE ITS TOP-RATED SUBJECT

Late on Monday 26 April 2010, the Dean of the School of Arts and Education at Middlesex University, announced the closure of all its Philosophy programmes, including the largest MA programme in Philosophy in the UK. Philosophy is the highest research-ranked subject in the University, and Middlesex is the highest rated of all the post-92 institutions in the subject.

Restriction of student opportunities and choice

Philosophy at Middlesex is one of only a handful of programmes left in the UK that provides both research-driven and inclusive post-graduate teaching and supervision aimed at a wide range of students, specialist and non-specialist. It is the main centre in the UK for the study of European or ‘continental’ philosophy.

Research

The Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy is the main centre for ‘continental’ philosophy in the UK, with an established international reputation, frequent visiting speakers from abroad and increasing numbers of postgraduate students. There are currently 63 postgraduate students in the Centre: 48 MA students and 15 PhD students. 5 PhDs were awarded in 2009. These are remarkable numbers, especially for a small group of six staff.

The Middlesex Philosophy submission to RAE2001 was graded 5, and the 2008 submission was awarded a GPA of 2.80, ranking it joint 13th out of 41 institutions entered in Philosophy – above both its main competitors, Warwick and Sussex. It has hosted 2 Leverhulme Fellowships in the last 6 years, and recently completed a £245,000 AHRC-funded research project, ‘Concept and Form: The Cahiers pour l’analyse and Contemporary French Thought’ (which included production of a major web research resource). It recently submitted an application for a 2-year AHRC Project Grant on Transdisciplinarity, and held an international event on Transdisciplinarity in French Thought at the French Institute).

Email the Dean and tell him how disgusted you are:  e.esche@mdx.ac.uk

David Harvey: Enigma of Capital (LSE Lecture)

Enigma of Capital Lecture at LSE

The Enigma of Capital
London School of Economics
Department of Geography public lecture
Monday 26 April 2010

Can Philosophy Comprehend Life? (A Talk by Eckart Förster)

Great talk by Eckart Förster (discussing Evan Thompson’s book Mind in Life, among other things, and the relationship between scientific discourse and philosophy, including a reference to Naturphilosophie and Goethe) found here. There is also a talk by Evan Thompson following Eckart Förster.

It’s Official

So Maimon reading thing will commence on June 15th, 2010 (changed from June 1st due to Jon Cogburn’s schedule, but I might post something or solicit posts on Maimon’s colorful biography in the first couple of weeks of June).

Continuum was nice enough to plug it on their blog here. So we can’t back out now – if one cannot trust in promises given by semi-anonymous bloggers in an atmosphere of complete non-committal internets, then the world as we know might as well go to hell.

Again, if you’re interested in participating in a more official posting capacity, send me a note at mikh.emelianov@gmail.com and you shall receive, as the saying goes.

More Special Effects, Please: (L’Objet Danse)

Watching this rather amusing (and spectacular) period film about Louis XIV and Lully (and other things) called Le Roi Danse. Whoever claimed that it is only in the twentieth century that we have become addicted to special effects (and 3D glasses, and the spectacle) is only correct to a certain extend – this looks pretty “in-your-face” sort of ballet de la nuit – I wish there was more spectacular stuff in philosophy (for example, objects could dance and sing, as opposed to boringly withdraw or vicariously allure) – just saying…

More Summer Reading.

Adrian Ivakhiv is proposing to do a reading of Jane Bennett’s Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things. He doesn’t have any details yet, but hopefully that works out. Could be a fun summer then.

BBC Proms 2010 Guide

Just out (print version out as well). Looking through it. All of the BBC Prom concerts are usually available through BBC3 Radio (live or recorded for 7 days). Get your highlighters out! Three Proms jumped at me immediately – looking for more: