P R O G R A M

Practice, Thought and Judgement – Hannah Arendt 100 Years: Anniversary Symposium

International Conference
24-25 November, 2006
Location: University of Helsinki, Finland
Website

Download the poster (PDF)

Organized by: The Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies in cooperation with the Department of Political Science, The Christina Institute for Women’s Studies, The Department of Philosophy and The Department of Social and Moral Philosophy at the University of Helsinki

Contact Information:
Mika Ojakangas
Marja-Liisa Honkasalo



Description


Hannah Arendt is one of the most prominent philosophers and political theorists of the 20th century. Her writings cover many diverse topics of which the most known are the Christian caritas, the critique of totalitarianism, the analysis of practice, freedom and authority, the question of the banality of evil, the nature of the faculties of thinking, willing and judging, the history of philosophy, and the relationship between natality and indeterminism. As a thinker of multidimensional argumentation Arendt draws inspiration from Aristotle, Augustine, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, Jaspers, Heidegger and Kafka just to mention a few. Moreover, her thought has had a great impact on various contemporary philosophers and thinkers, such as Jürgen Habermas, Alasdair MacIntyre, Seyla Benhabib, Giorgio Agamben, Jean-Luc Nancy, Adriana Cavarero, Richard J. Bernstein and Grace M. Jantzen. The amount of interest in her theories is remarkable in Finland as well, not only among political scientists but also among philosophers, jurisprudents, sociologists, anthropologists, feminists and theologians. The reason for this interest is simple: Arendt’s innovative concepts and conceptual distinctions have not lost their significance and are thus highly useful for the analyses of contemporary philosophical, social and political questions and problems. For these reasons, we organize a symposium to celebrate and honour the 100th anniversary of Hannah Arendt.


Program



Friday, 24 November 2006

Morning session at the University Main Building, Auditorium XIII (Unioninkatu 34)

10:15 am. Opening words
Professor Juha Sihvola, Director of The Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies
University of Helsinki

Plenary lecture and discussion:

Hannah Arendt:  the Autonomy of the Political Reconsidered [Abstract]
Dana Richard Villa, Packey J. Dee Professor of Political Theory
University of Notre Dame

12:00 - 1:15 pm. Lunch

Afternoon Session at The Collegium for Advanced Studies (Fabianinkatu 24, Seminar room 136)

Chair: Sara Heinämaa, The Collegium for Advanced Studies
University of Helsinki

1:30 pm.
Plurality as Fact and Value in Arendt’s Political Philosophy [Abstract]
Kristian Klockars, Ph. D., Docent, University lecturer, Department of Social and Moral Philosophy
University of Helsinki

2:15 pm.
(Im)mortal Action: Arendt and Aristotle [Abstract]
Jussi Backman, M.A., D.E.A., researcher, Department of Philosophy
University of Helsinki

3: 00 pm.
Arendt’s Conception of the Sense of Realness [Abstract]
Julia Honkasalo, M.A., Ph. D. student, Department of Philosophy
University of Helsinki

Coffee service at the Collegium

4:15 pm.
The Abyss of Freedom and the Totalitarian Lure [Abstract]
Iivi Masso, D. Soc. Sc., researcher

5:00 pm.
The Janus Faced Juno of Arendt’s Politics of Life [Abstract]
Markku Koivusalo, researcher, Department of Political Science
University of Helsinki

6:00 pm.
Reception at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies


Saturday, 25 November 2006

Morning session at the University Main Building, Auditorium XIII (Unioninkatu 34)

10:15 am.
Plenary lecture and discussion:

What St. Augustine Taught Hannah Arendt about “how to live in the world”: Caritas, Natality
and the Banality of Evil [Abstract]
Joanna Vecchiarelli Scott, Professor of Political Science
Eastern Michigan University

12:00 – 1:15 pm. Lunch

Afternoon Session at The Collegium for Advanced Studies (Fabianinkatu 24, Seminar room 136)

Chair: Marja-Liisa Honkasalo, The Collegium for Advanced Studies
University of Helsinki

1:30 pm.
Hannah Arendt and the Question of Conscience [Abstract]
Mika Ojakangas, Academy research fellow/The Collegium for Advanced Studies
University of Helsinki

2:15 pm.
Infinity and Unpredictability: Descartes and Arendt on Will and Action [Abstract]
Martina Reuter, Academy research fellow/Department of Systematic Theology
University of Helsinki

3:00 pm.
Perspectivism and Corporeality – Nietzschean Themes in Arendt [Abstract]
Krista Johansson, M.A. degree student, Department of Philosophy
University of Helsinki

Coffee service at the Collegium

4: 15 pm.
Between Action and Existence. On Meaning and Finitude in Arendt and Heidegger [Abstract]
Miika Luoto, Phil. Lic., researcher, Department of Aesthetics, Institute for Art Research
University of Helsinki

5: 00 pm.
Arendt on the Sublime [Abstract]
Susanna Snell, researcher, Department of Social and Moral Philosophy
University of Helsinki

Closing of the Symposium