UOW Philosophy Seminar, Spring 2014. All are welcome!
Speaker: Professor Duncan Ivison (University of Sydney) Title: Patriotism, diversity and belonging Abstract: One of the great challenges of contemporary politics remains how best to reconcile the deep pluralism of almost all societies with forms of human solidarity, both within and across borders. In recent years, a number of both hostile and friendly critics of liberalism have emphasized the need for our conceptions of citizenship to be more closely connected to conceptions of a complex, but still genuinely common good. The argument is that by disconnecting citizenship from a sense of common purpose, it becomes hollowed out and thus generates alienation and disengagement on the part of citizens and thus the social and political problems these conditions inevitably generate. Citizens need to care about their political community in order to maintain the institutions required to support individual and collective liberty, social justice, social and political tolerance and democratic deliberation. Recent political theory has also seen a decisive turn towards the transnational and the cosmopolitan - and for good reason. Political theorists have sought to contribute to important debates around how best to conceptualize the ethical consequences of globalization and increasing cross-national interconnectedness. But if the mood is now very much one if favour of cosmopolitan as opposed to national concern, then what kinds of partial allegiances *are* permissible? More to the point, what kinds of particular commitments are *required*? Is it the case that we are *never* morally permitted to prefer our families or fellow citizens over others with regard to certain obligations? When: Wednesday 17 September Time: 3:30 - 5:00pm Where: Research Hub 19.2072B, building 19 There will be a student seminar from 2:00 - 2:45pm, also in the Research Hub. Best, *Dr. Michael D. Kirchhoff * Lecturer in Philosophy School of Humanities and Social Enquiry Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia
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