Two is one is a summer school program which aims at creating a platform for the cross-cultural study of nondualism in philosophical and religious traditions, with a main focus on Spinoza and the Śaiva tradition.

Hybrid format: monthly online meetings in June, July, August, September 2024; in-person conference @ Eramsus University Rotterdam, 28-30 August 2024

Intended audience: Master students, PhD students, postdocs, and more senior academics with an interest in nondual philosophy (broadly understood, and not necessarily limited to Spinoza or the Śaiva tradition) and/or an interest in global and comparative philosophy, religion and culture.

Description

One of the oldest philosophical questions is how to relate the One and the Many. Nondualism is a radical (dis)solution (of)to this question, since it argues that the One and the Many are neither reducible to one another, nor genuinely different from one another. The One is essentially Manifold, and the Many are essentially Unified. This seemingly abstract metaphysical view is rich in ontological, cognitive, linguistic, aesthetic, and socio-political implications. The goal of this summer school is to create an interdisciplinary platform to explore the metaphysical, aesthetical and sociological ramifications of non-dualism in a cross-cultural perspective. As reference points for this investigation, we shall take two of the most representative non-dualistic philosophies emerged both in Western and Eastern thought. We shall bring into dialogue Baruch Spinoza’s philosophy, rooted in the early modern period in Europe, with the non-dual strands of the Advaita traditions flourished in early medieval India (including authors such as Bhartṛhari and Śaṅkarācarya) and which than developed through the Vedānta and Śaiva philosophical schools. This summer school aims at creating a platform for the cross-cultural study of nondualism in both of these philosophical and religious traditions, and beyond by fostering interdisciplinary exchanges between established scholars, and engaging advanced students and early career researchers as well. The event will be hybrid. We’ll host four weekly online reading groups before the in-person period (which will take place in Rotterdam). These online activities will enable all participants to gain an equal footing in the root texts. The in-person event will have the format of a conference, with keynote speakers and shorter presentations. This will then be followed by another online period for joint-presentations and round table discussions from the participants.

For full information, cfp and registration:

https://www.rug.nl/education/summer-winter-schools/two-is-one/

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Polls show that most Americans are concerned about money in politics, and yet over the past eight years, the issue seems to have been shunted to the back burner of progressive politics. Ever since 2016, when Donald Trump won despite being dramatically out-fundraised, political reformers have grown quieter on this issue. There is a perception that Trump’s upset victory, and a handful of other high-profile cases in which campaign cash didn’t translate into winning, have taken some of the wind out of the sails of this issue. This piece aims to correct that perception. It covers the history of campaign finance policy in the US, and dives into the data to show that money in politics not only remains very predictive, but that it correlates with a number of troubling trends.

https://americandreaming.substack.com/p/down-the-rabbit-hole-of-money-in

When I began studying Kant as an undergraduate in college, I took a class on metaphysics where we read Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics and were given a short vocabulary list by the professor. As I was reading Kant's Prolegomena for the first time, the professor's vocabulary list helped a bit. That list gave me the idea to make a more solid, comprehensive vocabulary list/glossary that also included additional information about some of the terms besides their definitions. I figured I would share my list to help new Kant learners so they could have at least a bit less frustration and make progress (as his terminology is tough at first).

Thus, for those beginning with the Prolegomena and/or the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, here's my glossary of important technical terms in those works (and links to other online resources on Kant): My Kant Glossary. It is not meant to be an absolutely perfect glossary (always go to the texts first). Hopefully, this will help first-time learners and clear up a few misconceptions that might arise.

Additionally, here is a playlist of extremely helpful Core Concept Videos of Kant's Prolegomena and Groundwork by Dr. Gregory B. Sadler. (He also has other videos on other philosophers if you are also interested): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8JK7srsJCk&list=PL3CAC6CDCA5C5765E&index=2

I also added links to other resources (e.g., a site with diagrams of Kant's philosophy).

I'm thinking specifically of essays or articles (or chapters of books), but not full-length books themselves. Essays that have changed the face of their particular field, or that sum up a change in a field, like "What is Enlightenment?" by Kant.