NOUS

The Weber State University Philosophy Club

NOUS is a philosophy club which meets approximately once a month to discuss issues of philosophical importance. Membership is open to students as well as members of the community. To get on our mailing list or to obtain more information, contact Brooke Robison, our President, or Richard Greene our Faculty Advisor.

Click here to email Brooke Robison

Click here to email Professor Greene

Announcements

Here is the schedule for fall 2007:

1. Friday, Sept. 21 at 4:30 pm Kimball Visual Arts Center. Caril Jennings will be showing a film (Helen of Troy) in two one-hour parts. Pizza will be served at the break

DVD: Classical historian Bettany Hughes separates the Helen myths from reality. The journey begins in Helen's birthplace of Sparta where Hughes explores the ancient foods, sumptuous royal courts and female-dominated religious rituals of the Late Bronze Age.

Explore the enigmatic Helen of Troy as a mythological, archetypal and historical figure. Shot in various locations in Greece and Turkey, Helen of Troy explores the cultures involved in the Trojan War, the principal characters from Homer's Iliad, and the gods who favoured either side in the conflict that raged around the abduction of Helen by Paris, Prince of Troy

2. Friday, Sept. 28 at 4:30 in SS 235. Shaun Miller (one of our adjuncts) will give a talk. Here's the information he's provided:

TITLE: Luce Irigaray: Love Through Sexual Difference

ABSTRACT: Traditionally, love has been seen as searching for one’s “other half.” We are determined to find our soul mate and if we do not find one, we are deemed “less than human” or not truly living up to our potential as to what life has to offer. In society, the fusion of lovers is permeated through our culture. The main reply against this is Sartre but he still falls under the rubric of the fusion model.

Luce Irigaray is a philosopher that stands against the fusion model altogether. She will point out what mistakes both sides have been taken into account and what they have been assuming. For both sides, they are assuming that love can only happen (1) under a unification of the individuals, (2) if the individuals are equal, and (3) under a pre-existing framework. In the end, Irigaray will conclude that love as a unification is possible, but you would not want that anyways because it just leads into Sartrean sadomasochism. In fact, one would not want love qua union at all. Genuine love for Irigaray means that the lovers must be different, and with that I will bring in her concept of sexual difference and what it could mean for society as a whole if everyone followed the rubric of sexual difference.

3. Friday, October 26 at 4:30 in SS235. Gordy Mower, a recent Ph.D. in Philosophy and our new logic adjunct, will present some of his recent research. More details to come.

4. Friday November 16 at 4:30 in SS235. Shaun Miller will present a second talk. Details to follow. Shaun is applying to Ph.D. programs this winter and is giving two talks in order to get feedback on his writing samples. This is a good opportunity for those students who are considering graduate work in philosophy to talk to someone currently going through the process.

I hope to see you at these events.

Richard Greene

Home