Posted by pat.c.todd on

Lacan in Scotland; Edinburgh; May 8

From Amanda Diserholt (Edinburgh Napier):

Please join us for a seminar by Aaron Schuster on: From Hedonism to the Symptom: The Destiny of Lust

In this seminar, we will examine Lacan’s notion of jouissance, through the lens of Plato’s dialogue Philebus, his most advanced treatment of the question of pleasure and the good life. How is Lacan’s notion of enjoyment both grounded in Plato’s theory on pleasure as well as a decisive break from it? What are the moral and ontological implications of Lacan’s idea of enjoyment? How does it relate to Freud’s attempts to theorize the nature of Lust? In addition to the interpretation of Lacan, we will sketch a history of pleasure, starting with Plato’s critique of hedonism and ending with Freud’s paradoxical notion of the “unfelt pleasure” of the symptom. From Greek hedonism to the neurotic symptom: is this the destiny of Lust?

Aaron Schuster is a philosopher and writer, based in Amsterdam. He is the author of The Trouble with Pleasure: Deleuze and Psychoanalysis (MIT Press, 2016). He was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago in 2016, and will be at the Society of Fellows, Cornell University in 2018-2019.

You are invited to read Aaron Schuster’s texts:
Is Pleasure a Rotten Idea?

Being and Enjoyment in Plato’s Philebus: A Lacanian Perspective

Tuesday May 8 at 18:30 – 20:00 
Edinburgh Napier University, Merchiston Campus, Room G24

**FREE AND OPEN TO ALL**

Posted by pat.c.todd on

Paul Boghossian at the Royal Society of Edinburgh; 23 May

?The Knowledge Beyond Natural Science project at the University of Stirling would like to announce the third of the project’s series of Public Lectures.  The lecture will be given on Wednesday 23 May 2018 by Professor Paul Boghossian of New York University. He will address the question: ‘Should we be Relativists about Morality?’

Many people, philosophers and non-philosophers alike, regard themselves as relativists about morality. They are suspicious of there being any objective truths about how we should conduct our lives. In this talk, Professor Boghossian will argue that relativism about morality is not an option: we face a stark voice between eliminating moral discourse altogether or accepting a certain measure of objectivity about the moral domain. He will conclude by arguing in favour of the latter option.
 
The lecture will be held in the Wellcome West Room of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s building at 28 George Street, Edinburgh. Attendance is free and open to all.