The Department of Philosophy at Amherst welcomes all students, from those who would like to sample a course or two, to those who would like to major in the discipline and perhaps even study the subject in graduate school.

Announcements

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Philosophy Teas(e)

Dear Friends of Philosophy,
 
I am delighted to announce a new opportunity for you to get together with your friends in Philosophy-- faculty, staff, students. 
 
This semester, the Philosophy Department will be hosting Philosophy Teas(e), every other Wednesday afternoon from 4-5, in the Kennick Room.  I have given the occasion this name because we will be offering tea and cookies, and something else. "What else?" you ask. Well, that's the tease.
 
Our first Tea will be on Wednesday, October 11 at 4:00 in the Kennick Room in Cooper House.
 
I ask three favors of you:
 
(1)  Please come.  It will be fun!
 
(2) Please print the attached poster and post it widely across campus. 
 
(3)  Please let us know if you plan to come.  Since this is a spanking new event, it would be good to get some sense of how many people plan to attend, so that we have enough cookies, and teas, and other sources of pleasure.  You can RSVP by emailing our interim administrative assistant, Dee Brace, at djbrace@amherst.edu.

 
Featured

Socialism and Joint Action

Thursday, October 19th at 4:30pm in Paino Lecture Hall, Beneski Building. 
Jonny Thakkar, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College will speak on "Socialism and Joint Action."  
 
abstract: 
This paper suggests we conceive of socialism as a normative ideal that is multiply realizable at the institutional level as opposed to being tied to specific policies like state ownership and restriction of markets. My starting point is the theory presented by G. A. Cohen in Why Not Socialism?, according to which the appeal of socialist principles can be illustrated with the example of a camping trip. This argumentative strategy has been much criticized, but I believe we can rescue it so long as we grasp that the camping trip imagined by Cohen is a paradigm instance of joint action between equals, and that joint action of the relevant kind carries with it a particular normative structure according to which each participant has an obligation to play their part in advancing collective goals. Insofar as we can see economic life at large, and sociopolitical life more generally, as constituted by such joint action, we can see why the practical reasons that face participants in a camping trip might be relevant to those facing participants in a modern economy. In particular, both sets of people might need to play their parts in a scheme of cooperation aimed at facilitating the good life for all. Contra Cohen, however, this does not entail that participants in ordinary economic life must engage in “express” reciprocity, whereby we produce and exchange with each other’s needs in mind, since we might have good reason to organize large-scale cooperation differently from cooperation on a camping trip.
 
Sponsored by the Department of Philosophy.
 

"The Misuses of Anger: Audre Lorde, Self-Hatred, and the Anger it Fuels"

Myisha Cherry, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of California - Riverside. will be presenting a lecture on "The Misuses of Anger: Audre Lorde, Self-Hatred, and the Anger it Fuels" on Thursday, April 20 in Pruyne Lecture Hall, Fayerweather.

Abstract: In this talk I consider and examine Audre Lorde’s account of and recommendations for dealing with self-hatred and anger. Instead of viewing Lorde’s solution as anger management, I read it as a form of self-empowerment that is a politically efficacious tool rather than an individualized self-help solution. I also think of ways in which anger born out of self-hatred might co-exist with anti-racist anger – yet make it incomplete and less powerful. Overall, I hope to show how Lorde’s thinking on anger, as well as other emotions such as hate, disgust, and contempt is much more complex than philosophers have assumed. I also demonstrate that Lorde offers increasing insights for thinking about the affective ways that oppression works, and provides various affective resources to resist such oppression in order for agents to thrive on their own terms.

Myisha Cherry

"The Idea of Prison Abolition: Slavery and Its Legacy,"

Tommie Shelby, Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies and of Philosophy, Harvard University will present a lecture entitled "The Idea of Prison Abolition: Slavery and Its Legacy," on Thursday, March 30, 2023, as part of the Forry and Micken Lecture Series on "Racial Justice",

Abstract: Angela Davis and other leading abolitionist thinkers in the black radical tradition object to prisons on numerous grounds. One objection questions the legitimacy of the practice of imprisonment because of its similarity to, and historical connection with, practices of enslavement. In this lecture, Shelby critically engages with this influential objection. He highlights its power but also explores its limits, and he draws lessons from this engagement for criminal justice reform in the United States and elsewhere.

Tommie Shelby

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An Amherst philosophy education conveys a sense of wonder about ourselves and our world, through exploration of philosophical texts and personal engagement with philosophical issues.

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Meet our alumni, including those teaching philosophy at colleges and universities around the world.

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