Discipline and Educate: Ethical Government of Self and Other from Descartes to Kant
Christopher Davidson (Ball State University) Date: Tuesday, 6th of June Time: 13:00 - 14:00 Venue: W6A 708, Macquarie University All welcome Abstract: Foucault, in his History of Sexuality volumes Use of Pleasure and Care of the Self, claims that Ancient philosophy generally privileged ethos over theoretical knowledge: not only was the good life a more important goal than knowledge, but ethical self-mastery was required before one could properly philosophize. Ethics’ dual priority was later weakened or eliminated, he hinted, primarily by Descartes and Kant. However, Foucault died before exploring the Early Modern relation of ethics and theory. We explore this relation through self-governance in Descartes and Spinoza (revealing a weaker but not eliminated precedence of ethical self-discipline over other theoretical tasks) and the moral education of children in Locke and Kant (showing that various non-free practices of childhood submission are absolutely required to produce a free adult). For the Early Moderns, developing reason and freedom requires training habits deeply into the subject; students learn more effectively from a morally good teacher; and autonomous, knowing subjects are produced through practices which are not wholly free or rational (such as inducing the affect of shame in the child). In these ways, they remain partially related to the Ancient privileging of ethos. Contact: Adam Hochman (adam.hoch...@mq.edu.au<mailto:adam.hoch...@mq.edu.au>) or Mike Olson (michael.ol...@mq.edu.au<mailto:michael.ol...@mq.edu.au>) A google calendar with details of other events in this series is available for viewing and subscription by following this link: goo.gl/3Iu7hk<https://goo.gl/3Iu7hk> --- Adam Hochman Lecturer in Philosophy & Macquarie University Research Fellow Department of Philosophy | W6A, Room 733 Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia Staff Profile | http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/faculties_and_departments/faculty_of_arts/department_of_philosophy/staff/adam_hochman/ Academia.edu Page | https://mq.academia.edu/AdamHochman Philpapers Page | http://philpapers.org/profile/48626 Personal Website | adamhochman.com T: +61 2 9850 8859<tel:%2B61%202%209850%206895> | arts.mq.edu.au<http://arts.mq.edu.au/><http://arts.mq.edu.au/><http://mq.edu.au/> [Macquarie University]<http://mq.edu.au/>
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