For decades theorists recognized mostly for their work in current continental strategies (e.g., critical theory, semiotics, deconstruction, poststructuralism, philosophical hermeneutics, psychoanalytic feminism, postmodernism) have also been interested in discussing in depth early modern philosophers from Montaigne to Kant.  Starobinski, Bensmaïa, and de Certeau have written on Montaigne; Le Doeuff on Bacon; Negri on Hobbes; Foucault, Irigaray, and Derrida on Descartes; Goldmann on Pascal; Balibar, Negri and Deleuze on Spinoza; Althusser on Malebranche, Locke, and Rousseau; Deleuze on Leibniz and Hume; Derrida on Condillac; Adorno and Gadamer on Vico; and almost all of them on Kant.  Titles such as The New Spinoza have begun to appear, but among English-speaking historians of modern philosophy there has not been much discussion about how all of this activity in current continental research has transformed our understanding of the issues and approaches of the moderns.

This conference and its resulting volume will be an opportunity for scholars to explore new ways of studying modern philosophers up to and including Kant.  Speakers include

                       Conference Schedule                      

Thursday, September 21:

3:00-4:25    Machiavelli and Hobbes
        Chair: Alexander Bertland (Hastings College)

          Machiavelli, Historical Repetition, and French Philosophies of Difference (Deleuze, Derrida)
              Miguel Vatter (Northwestern University)

         Hobbes' Future: Adorno, Temporality, and the Science of Desire
              Michael Bray (Pennsylvania State University)

4:35-6:00    Descartes
        Chair: Eric Nelson (Texas A&M University)

        Picturing Descartes: Heidegger on Representation and the Metaphysics of Modernity
               Amy Schmitter (University of New Mexico)

        Lyotard on the Importance of Style and Tone in Descartes
               James Williams (University of Dundee, Scotland)

7:45            Featured Speaker
        Introduction: Anne Marie Bowery (Baylor University)

        Spinoza and the Social Imaginary
               Susan James (Birkbeck College, University of London)

9:00            Conference Reception

Friday, September 22:

9:00-10:30    Descartes (continued)
        Chair: François Raffoul (California State University, Stanislaus)

        Truth and Evidence in Descartes and Levinas
               Leslie MacAvoy (East Tennessee State University)

        The Enigma of the Cartesian Infinite: On Levinas and Marion
               John Drabinski (Grand Valley State University)

10:40            Featured Speaker
            Introduction: Robert Johnson (Duquesne University)

        Deleuze's Spinoza: Thinker of Difference
               Todd May (Clemson University)

Noon            Lunch (on your own)

1:45-3:00      Featured Speaker
            Introduction: Judith Norman (Trinity University)

        The Power of Prejudice, the Force of Law: Spinoza and His Heirs (Freud and Benjamin) on Religion
               Idit Dobbs-Weinstein (Vanderbilt University)

3:10-4:35       Leibniz
            Chair: Mark Kulstad (Rice University)

        Leibniz's Infinite Semiotics
               Franklin Perkins (Vassar College)

        Events of Difference: The Fold in between Deleuze's Reading of Leibniz
               Keith Robinson (Grand Valley State University)

4:45-6:00        Featured Speaker
            Introduction: Leslie Kavanaugh (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

        Individuation within Becoming: Leibniz before and after Deleuze
               Andrew Benjamin (University of Warwick, England)
 

Saturday, September 23:

9:00-10:30    The Encyclopedists and Hume
            Chair: Karánn Durland (Austin College)

        Kristeva on the Encyclopedists: A Case Study in the Philosophical Imaginary
               Katherine Arens (University of Texas, Austin)

        Deleuze, Hume, and the Creative History of Philosophy
               Jay Conway (University of California, Riverside)

10:40-12:00    Featured Speaker
        Introduction: Melissa Zinkin (Binghamton University)

        À-venir of Perfectibility: Derrida, Rousseau and the Politics of the Future
              Penelope Deutscher (Australian National University)

Noon              Lunch (on your own)

1:45-3:15        Rousseau and Kant
        Chair: Miglena Dikova (Leuven University, Belgium)

        Narrating and Naturalizing: Rousseau and Althusser on the Metaphysics of Truth-Telling
               Rebecca Kukla (Carleton University, Canada)

        The Dialectic of the Future, the Future of the Dialectic: Goldmann on Kant's First Critique
               Michael Baur (Fordham University)

3:30-6:00     Kant: Featured Speaker Panel
        Chair: Daniel Selcer (DePaul University)

        Lyrical and Ethical Subjects: Gadamer and Derrida on Kant
               Dennis Schmidt (Villanova University)

        The Art of Begetting Monstrous Children: Deleuze's Kant
               Constantin Boundas (Trent University, Canada)

6:30           Cash Bar (Faculty Club)

7:00           Banquet (Faculty Club)

        Featured Speaker, following banquet (Faculty Club, 8:00)
            Introduction: Steven Crowell (Rice University)

        "One Principle More": On Reflection in Kant's Critique of Judgment
               Rodolphe Gasché (State University of New York at Buffalo)
 

Travel: College Station is served by Continental Airlines via Houston and American Airlines via Dallas-Fort Worth. College Station is located 100 miles from Houston, 175 miles from Dallas-Fort Worth, and 100 miles from Austin. Flights in and out of College Station fill quickly, so you should make airline reservations as early as possible.

Conference Site: All sessions will be held at Texas A&M University in Rudder Tower, Room 701. The conference banquet will be held at the Faculty Club in Rudder Tower.

Hotels: Accommodations are available at the Memorial Student Center (MSC) adjacent to Rudder Tower or at two off-campus hotels 3/4 mile from the conference site. Both off-campus hotels have shuttle service to Rudder Tower and the airport. When making reservations, indicate that you are with the Philosophy Conference. Reservation deadline is September 7.

MSC: two twin beds ($45/night). $5 additional person.
Phone: 979-845-8909; FAX 979-862-4414

Comfort Inn: two double beds or king size ($62/night). Additional person no charge.
Phone: 979-846-7333; FAX 979-846-5479

Hampton Inn: two double beds or king size ($68/night). Additional person no charge.
Phone: 979-846-0184; FAX 979-268-5807

Fewer rooms may be available for the first night of the conference (Thursday) at the MSC hotel than on Friday and Saturday. You might be able to move from an off-campus hotel to the MSC to take advantage of the Friday and Saturday night rooms.

Registration and Banquet: There is a US$15 conference registration fee and an additional US$25 for the banquet at which Rodolphe Gasché will speak. The $15 conference fee is waived for Texas A&M University faculty and students; the cost of the Faculty Club banquet is $15 for TAMU students, $25 for all others (including TAMU faculty). Early conference registration is encouraged; late registration (non-banquet option) will be available on site. Payment for banquet reservations must be received no later than September 8. Late conference registration (non-banquet option) is available on site. Make checks payable to TAMU-Philosophy Department and mail to

Stephen H. Daniel
Department of Philosophy
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-4237

When you register, be sure to include your name, address, affiliation, and email address, and indicate if you prefer a vegetarian option for the banquet. For additional information, email Steve Daniel (sdaniel@unix.tamu.edu) or call the Texas A&M University Department of Philosophy (979-845-5660).

Major funding for the conference is provided by the Texas A&M University Professional and Career Development Program of the Office of Graduate Studies and the Center for Humanities Research. Additional support comes from the University Honors Program, the Departments of Philosophy, English, Speech Communication, Modern and Classical Languages, Sociology, Political Science, and History, and the Women's Studies Program.

Last updated 13 September 2000.

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