[SydPhil] Gwen Nettlefold Memorial Lecture (Anik Waldow, USyd)

Louise Richardson-Self lvself at gmail.com
Tue Feb 20 13:26:28 AEDT 2024


The University of Tasmania is hosting the second annual Gwen Nettlefold
Memorial Lecture on Thursday 7 March 6pm -- this is a hybrid event.

Our esteemed speaker is Professor Anik Waldow (USyd); her lecture is
entitled *Monstrous Minds and the Construction of the Natural and Normal:
Reflections on Montaigne’s Essays* (abstract below).

Please register here
<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/e-xNCANpgjCZyDvEEuGkE0W?domain=eventbrite.com.au>
.

*In this talk, I critically reflect on conceptions of the natural and
normal and the conditions in which humans are identified as abnormal or
monstrous for the opinions, beliefs, and attitudes they have. By engaging
with Montaigne’s thoughts on witchcraft, cannibalism, and “madness,” I
differentiate between two senses of naturalness: the first derives from
habit; the second arises gradually when responding to what Montaigne calls
the “wisdom of nature.” Based on the second, I develop a functional account
of normality that approaches individuals and groups as part of complex
wholes. The advantage of this account is, I argue, that it is more flexible
and less exclusionary than those based on essentialist conceptions of human
nature.*
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