News and events

Cavelleria Siracusa:
An intermittent series of events at Le Moyne in 2009-2010 on the work of American philosopher Stanley Cavell

Stanley Cavell is the Walter M. Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value, Emeritus, at Harvard University. He has published widely for over 50 years on topics and crosscurrents in Wittgenstein and Austin, Emerson and Thoreau, music and opera, Shakespeare, film, psychoanalysis and autobiography. His recent writings include A Pitch of Philosophy: Autobiographical Exercises, Contesting Tears: The Melodrama of the Unknown Woman and Cities of Words. Cavell is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and past president of the American Philosophical Association. His philosophical autobiography, Excerpts from Memory, will be published by Stanford University Press in 2010.

All events are free and open to the public. All venues are on the Le Moyne College campus (1419 Salt Springs Road, Syracuse, N.Y.) with the exception of Professor Cavell’s talk and film screening on Apr. 16 at the Palace Theater (2384 James Street, Syracuse, N.Y.).  Individual events are sponsored by the Departments of Philosophy, English, and Religious Studies, the Gender and Women's Studies Program, and The Lectures Committee at Le Moyne College, and by the Syracuse International Film Festival. The Cavelleria Siracusa series is supported by a generous grant from the J. P. Watson Fund. For more information, call (315) 445-4514.

Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009, 5:30 p.m.
Not Following Emerson
David LaRocca, Liberty Fund, Inc.
Reilley Room, Reilly Hall

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, 5:30 p.m.
Cavell and Redemptive Reading
William Day, Department of Philosophy, Le Moyne College
Reilley Room, Reilly Hall

Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010, 5:30 p.m.
On Cavell and Film
Phillip Novak, Department of English, Le Moyne College
Grewen Hall 137

Thursday, Mar. 4, 2010, 5:30 p.m.
Cavell: Passionate Utterance and the Dark Woods of a Life
Edward Mooney, Department of Religion, Syracuse University; Department of Philosophy, Le Moyne College
Reilley Room, Reilly Hall

Thursday, Mar. 25, 2010, 5:30 p.m.
Cavell on Skepticism and the Ordinary
Edward Witherspoon, Department of Philosophy, Colgate University
Grewen Hall 137

Wednesday, Apr. 14, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Excerpts from Memory: Conclusion
STANLEY CAVELL, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
Grewen Auditorium, Grewen Hall
______________________________

Thinking at the Movies: Coen, Coen, and Noir
A Weekend Mini-Fest co-sponsored by the Syracuse International Film Festival

Friday, Apr. 16, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Reading O Brother, Where Art Thou?
STANLEY CAVELL, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
To be followed by a screening of O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
The Palace Theater, 2384 James Street

Saturday, Apr. 17, 2010, 7:00 p.m.
Joel and Ethan Coen, The Man Who Wasn't There
Gail Hamner, Department of Religion, Syracuse University
To be followed by a screening of The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
Grewen Auditorium, Grewen Hall

Sunday, Apr. 18, 2010, 2:00 p.m.
Ready for Her Close-up: On Sunset Boulevard
Julie Grossman, Department of English and Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences; Le Moyne College
To be followed by a screening of Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Grewen Auditorium, Grewen Hall

Why Philosophy?

Philosophy tackles questions that we all face as creatures alive to the world. The first question, perhaps, is how we should live our life. That question gives way to related questions about the nature of the world, what we can know, how words do things, our political arrangements, our belief in God, and our interest in the things we value (each other, the natural environment, works of art, music, movies, . . .). Many people think about these questions late in their life and anxiously, wondering about the life they've led. Those who study philosophy believe that the solutions to these questions are urgent and central to their happiness, and so they give their thinking over to them early and often.

Why Philosophy at Le Moyne?

At most colleges – and indeed at most graduate universities – philosophy departments are loyal to one of the two Western philosophical traditions of the past two hundred years: either continental philosophy (from the continent of Europe – chiefly Germany and France) or analytic philosophy (the dominant philosophical tradition in Great Britain and the U.S.). Le Moyne's department of philosophy is unusual in being strongly represented in both traditions, so our students gain exposure to the full range of philosophical approaches practiced today.

We are a large philosophy department for a small college with a small number of majors: the ratio of majors to full-time faculty is less than two to one. This means, for majors, a dozen full-time faculty from whom you can choose several to work with closely and get to know well. The department's areas of strength include social and political philosophy, aesthetics (i.e., philosophy of art), ethics, and the history of philosophy (particularly ancient and medieval philosophy).

Because of the prominence of philosophy in Le Moyne's core curriculum, our majors have a fairly open course of study compared to other majors, once their core requirements are out of the way. Thus, as a philosophy major, you have time to pursue interests related to philosophy – for example, in religious studies, political science, literature, or foreign languages – and to pursue other, possibly less-related interests – in theater arts or music, for example, or to satisfy the requirements for teacher certification.

There are several funded enrichment opportunities for philosophy majors at Le Moyne. These include travel to undergraduate philosophy conferences across the country, study abroad and post-graduate fellowships, and participation in Symposium, the student philosophy club.