[csaa-forum] REMINDER: Dalia Nassar on Goethe and Environmental Philosophy at UWS Philosophy Seminars

[Philosophy@UWS]

Philosophy Seminars 2012
The Writing and Society Research Centre and Philosophy @ UWS

Dalia Nassar
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Villanova University
DECRA Research Fellow, University of Sydney

TITLE: Goethe and Environmental Philosophy

TIME: August 15, 2-4pm

PLACE: UWS Bankstown Campus, 3.G.55

ABSTRACT: Given the increased interest in Goethe's study of nature, and the rise of environmental philosophy, it seems timely to consider the relevance of Goethe's thought in relation to contemporary environmental questions and concerns. Can Goethe's approach to and understanding of nature contribute to contemporary questions and concerns? The goal of this paper is to answer this question. The paper will be divided into four sections. In the first, I consider the critiques which contemporary environmental philosophy levels against romantic nature philosophy (in which Goethe is often included). Section two will assess the validity of these critiques in light of Goethe's understanding of nature. The third section will elaborate an essential problem within environmental philosophy. The final section will be an exploration of the ways in which Goethe's approach to understanding the natural word, and in particular his conceptions of the whole-part relation, can provide a distinctive response to the fundamental difficulty I locate in contemporary environmental thought.

BIO: Dalia Nassar is assistant professor of philosophy at Villanova University (USA) and DECRA Research Fellow at the University of Sydney. Her article, "From a Philosophy of Self to a Philosophy of Nature: Goethe and the Development ofSchelling's Naturphilosophie" won the prize for best essay published in 2010 on Goethe and/or his time, awarded by the Goethe Society of North America. She is editor of a collection of essays titled "German Romantic Philosophy: The Relevance of Early Romanticism," forthcoming with OUP, and has completed a book titled "The Romantic Absolute."

For the entire 2012 program of the Philosophy seminar series at UWS see: http://www.uws.edu.au/philosophy/philosophy@uws/events/research_seminars_2012

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