Seeskin Conference Program
Religious Philosophers, Philosophical Spirits
A conference in honor of Ken Seeskin on the occasion of his retirement.
Unless otherwise noted, the conference will be held in the John Evans Alumni Center.
Tuesday, May 5
9:45 Welcome: Cristina Lafont (chair, philosophy department)
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Session 1
Chair: Barry Wimpfheimer (Northwestern)
James Diamond (Waterloo), “Maimonides’ Legal Code: A Particularistic Bridge Between Universal Origins and Universal Ends”
Daniel Frank (Purdue), “The Structure and Purpose of the Guide”
Roslyn Weiss (Lehigh), "Socrates and Maimonides on Serving a Distant God"
1 -2:15 p.m. Lunch
2:15 -4:15 p.m. Session 2
Chair: Sandy Goldberg (Northwestern)
Judith Baskin (Oregon), "Maimonides and the Ladies: Gender and Rationality"
Josef Stern (Chicago), "Maimonides, the Falāsifa, and the Kalam on Certainty and the Certainty of Prophecy”
4:15-4:30 p.m. Break
4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Session 3
Chair: Helen Thompson (Northwestern)
Steven Nadler (Wisconsin), “Spinoza versus Aristotle on Friendship”
6:30 p.m. Dinner
Wednesday, May 6
9-10 a.m. Session 1
This session will be held in Kresge 1-515.
Chair: Stephanie Brenzel (Toronto)
Menachem Kellner (Israel) [via skype], "The Doctrine of the Chosen People: Mordecai Kaplan, Isaac Deutscher and George Steiner vs. Maimonides, Hermann Cohen and Kenneth Seeskin"
10:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Session 2
Chair: Laurie Zoloth (Chicago)
Stefano Perfetti (Pisa), “Meaning inhabits the historicity of languages: Walter Benjamin on Judaism and translation”
Mira Balberg (UCSD), “The Use and Abuse of Prophecy in Rabbinic Literature”
12:30-2 p.m. Lunch
2-5 p.m. Session 3
Chair: Regina Schwartz (Northwestern)
Adriano Fabris (Pisa), “Religious Experience at Stake: Philosophy of Religion and Interreligious Dialogue”
David Novak (Toronto), “How Can a Philosopher Speak of God?”
Michael Morgan (Indiana), “Revelation, Dialogue, and Authority in Twentieth-Century Jewish Philosophy”
5-7 p.m. Buffet dinner in John Evans Center
7:30 p.m. Ken’s keynote talk/Klutznik lecture, Pick-Staiger concert hall
Followed by dessert reception
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