Indiana University Press blog

Invigorating Philosophy for the 21st Century

This July the Charles S. Peirce International Centennial Congress will be held in Lowell, Massachusetts, an event that will have about three hundred Peirce scholars worldwide attend. The general theme of the congress is Invigorating Philosophy for the 21st Century.

Peirce was one of the most creative and versatile intellectual figures of the last two centuries. Although his genius went largely unrecognized during his lifetime, his work has exerted a considerable influence on the development of philosophy and many other disciplines. READ MORE.

The aim of the Centennial Congress is to advance scholarship on all aspects of Peirce’s thought and biography, and to investigate the relevance and potential of his philosophy for the 21st century—for contemporary philosophical debates and beyond. The organizers welcome interdisciplinary submissions and contributions from scholars in disciplines other than philosophy.

Professor Robert Lane, one of the Congress organizers is an editor of the journal Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, published by IU Press. 

READ FOR FREE: 
Realism and Receptivity: The Role of the Transcendent in Pragmatism by Devin Fitzpatrick

 

Two IUP authors to appear at Politics and Prose this weekend

Politics and Prose will host two events with IUP authors this Saturday and Sunday at its bookstore in Washington, D.C.

The first event features author Ellen Feder. She will discuss and sign copies of her book Making Sense of Intersex: Changing Ethical Perspectives in Biomedicine June 7 at 1 p.m.

In her thought-provoking look at a culture that often fails to recognize a third option, Feder re-examines the role of bioethics in cases where medical intervention to “normalize” gender frequently does more harm than good. For more information about the book, visit our website or listen to a podcast with the author.

The following day at 1 p.m., Jeffrey Veidlinger will discuss and sign copies of his book In the Shadow of the Shtetl: Small-Town Jewish Life in Soviet Ukraine.

The recollections of some 400 returnees in Ukraine provide the basis for Veidlinger’s reappraisal of the traditional narrative of 20th-century Jewish history. These elderly Yiddish speakers relate their memories of Jewish life in the prewar shtetl, their stories of survival during the Holocaust, and their experiences living as Jews under Communism. Learn more about the book on our website or in this book trailer.

Both author events are free and open to the public. Visit the Politics and Prose website for more details.

Podcast: Ellen Feder discusses Making Sense of Intersex

On this episode of the IU Press podcast, Ellen K. Feder discusses her book Making Sense of Intersex. Proposing a philosophical framework for the treatment of children with intersex conditions—one that acknowledges the intertwined identities of parents, children, and their doctors—Feder presents a persuasive moral argument for collective responsibility to these children and their families.

April events for Mel Scult

This month, Mel Scult will give two presentations in New York City about his book The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan. His first talk will take place at 7:30 p.m. April 10 at the Jewish Theological Seminary. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. The next event will be held at 7 p.m. April 29 at the Park Avenue Synagogue. Registration is also required for this free event.

For more information on Scult's book, visit our website.

Mel Scult to present keynote lecture on Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan

Mel Scult will give the keynote lecture at the conference on the life, work, and legacy of Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan to be held March 2-3 in the Copley Formal Lounge at Georgetown University. Scult, along with Susannah Heschel, will present "Kaplan, Heschel and the Future of North American Judaism" at 1:15 p.m. March 2. This conference is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are requested.

Scult is the author of The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan. Drawing on Kaplan's 27-volume diary, Scult describes the development of Kaplan's radical theology in dialogue with the thinkers and writers who mattered to him most, from Spinoza to Emerson and from Ahad Ha-Am and Matthew Arnold to Felix Adler, John Dewey, and Abraham Joshua Heschel. Learn more about the book on our website.

Ellen Feder to give lecture on intersex ethics at American University

Ellen K. Feder will present a lecture on "Normalizing Atypical Sex Anatomies: A Question of Ethics or Culture?" as part of American University's 2013-14 Celebration of College Research series. The event will take place February 26 from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Butler Board Room on the American University campus in Washington, DC.

Feder is the author of an upcoming book on this topic entitled Making Sense of Interesex, which will be released in April. Proposing a philosophical framework for the treatment of children with intersex conditions—one that acknowledges the intertwined identities of parents, children, and their doctors—Feder presents a persuasive moral argument for collective responsibility to these children and their families. Learn more about the book on our website.

Shai Held to give book talk at Tikvah Center

Shai Held will give a presentation about his latest book Abraham Joshua Heschel at the Tikvah Center in New York City. The event takes place February 25 at 5:30 p.m.

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) was a prolific scholar, impassioned theologian, and prominent activist who participated in the black civil rights movement and the campaign against the Vietnam War. He has been hailed as a hero, honored as a visionary, and endlessly quoted as a devotional writer. In this sympathetic, yet critical, examination, Shai Held elicits the overarching themes and unity of Heschel’s incisive and insightful thought. Focusing on the idea of transcendence—or the movement from self-centeredness to God-centeredness—Held puts Heschel into dialogue with contemporary Jewish thinkers, Christian theologians, devotional writers, and philosophers of religion.

Learn more about the book on our website.

Mel Scult to present lecture at Abraham Joshua Heschel School

Mel Scult, author of The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai M. Kaplan, has been invited by the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York, NY, to present the annual Heschel Lecture. His talk, entitled “Heschel Reconstructed—A View from the Kaplanian Left,” will take place January 22 from 7 to 8 p.m. Scult's book will also be available for sale at the event.

Author Mel Scult to speak at JCC in Manhattan

Mel Scult will give a talk about his new book The Radical American Judaism of Mordecai Kaplan Thursday, January 9, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the JCC in Manhattan. Tickets are $10 for members and $15 for non-members and can be purchased through the JCC website.

Book review: Abraham Joshua Heschel

"The principal aim of the book is to explain what Heschel means by his constant call to human (and even divine) self-transcendence. Gems of compressed thought stud the text, as when Held explains that Heschel urges us to confront the world not as 'a thing I own' but rather as 'a mystery I face.' He explores Heschel’s power and points to flaws, such as Heschel’s tendency to substitute intuition for argument. Shai Held’s book is a master class in one of the most significant Jewish voices of our time." —Tablet