The Philosophical Society of England

Reflections on Ethics, Religion and Metaphysics

A weekend Workshop and Colloquium arranged by the Philosophical Society of England 
in honour of the philosopher T.L.S. Sprigge (1932-2007)
St. Anne's College, Oxford27-28th June, 2009

                     
'Timothy Sprigge has been a major player on the philosophical scene contributing to discussions as diverse as consciousness, the ontology of time, personal identity, animal rights, punishment, censorship and wider issues in metaphysics, ethics and thehistory of philosophy. He is, however, less well known for his own highly original system of metaphysics and ethics - a synthesisof Absolute Idealism, panpsychism and utilitarianism.' 

(From Consciousness, Reality and Value: Essays in Honour of T. L. S. Sprigge, ed. Leemon B. McHenry and Pierfrancesco Basile )


                    . 
PROGRAMME

Saturday 27th June

11 a.m. Arrival, registration and coffee

11.30 a.m.
Brenda Almond: 'Revisiting the god of the philosophers'

Chair: Michael Bavidge

1 p.m. Lunch

2 p.m.
Leemon McHenry (California State University, USA. and Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at Edinburgh University): 'Sprigge on the relation of metaphysics and ethics: has orthodox physicalism done serious harm to our moral
sense?'

Chair: Pauline Phemister (Edinburgh University)

3.30. Tea

4.00 p.m
Michael Moran: 'Art and the Absolute'

Chair: TBA

5.00 p.m.
Alistair Young: 'Idealism and the world of sense.'

Chair: TBA

6.00 p.m. Break

7. p.m. Dinner

8.00 p.m. Michael Bavidge: 'The Philosophical Society of England from 1913 to the present day', 

followed by: the Society AGM.
 

Sunday 28th June

8 a.m. Breakfast

9 30 a.m.
Jane O'Grady: title to be announced

Chair: Ben Basing

11 a.m. Departure

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Leemon McHenry teaches philosophy at California State University, Northridge and in Spring 2009 will be Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies in the Humanities at Edinburgh University.

With Pierfrancesco Basile he co-edited a book on the philosophy of T.L.S. Sprigge called Consciousness, Reality and Value. He is currently preparing Sprigge's last book, 'Thought' for publication.

Brenda Almond has had a long-term interest in Timothy Sprigge's philosophy, and for the last five years organized a series of colloquia in Sussex of the PSE Study Group, at some of which Sprigge presented his own papers on Spinoza, and on absolute
idealism. She is the author of The Philosophical Quest and other books and articles on philosophy, ethics, and social issues.

Michael Moran has published a number of works on Hegel's philosophy and his paper on 'Art and the Absolute' is relevant to the
Hegelian influence on Sprigge's work.

Alistair Young is interested in the empiricist tradition in philosophy and will draw on his work in this area for his paper on idealism and the world of sense.

Michael Bavidge is Chair of the Society and also of the Society's Northern Group, for which he arranges an autumn conference annually in the North of England. Formerly Head of the Adult Education Programme at the Centre for Continuing Education at the
University of Newcastle on Tyne, he is the author of books and articles in applied philosophy and ethics, including 'Mad or Bad?' and 'Can We Understand Animal Minds?'

Jane O'Grady is a writer and philosophy teacher whose publications have appeared in Prospect and the Guardian.Her obituary for Timothy Sprigge was published in the Guardian.

The charge for registration, full board and accommodation in an en suite College room from Saturday mid-morning to Sunday is £138.

Further details and information about how to register are available from: Alan Brown, e-mail alanbrown236@hotmail.com



Organising Committee

Brenda Almond
Michael Bavidge
Fred Holman
Alan Brown

The Society wishes to thank the Aristotelian Society for its generous support for this event.

Up-dated 26.10.08
 

 
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