Marcy P. Lascano, Du Châtelet on the Powers of Minds and Bodies

New Voices Talk Series | 22.09 | 5 PM | Marcy P. Lascano | Du Châtelet on the Powers of Minds and Bodies

We warmly invite you to the final presentation in our Summer 2022 series of New Voices talks. Marcy Lascano (University of Kansas) will give a paper on “Du Châtelet on the Powers of Minds and Bodies.” This online talk will be hosted on Zoom on Thursday the 22nd of September, at 5PM CET.

Marcy P. Lascano is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kansas. She has published work on Margaret Cavendish, Anne Conway, Mary Astell, Damaris Masham, and Emilie du Châtelet. Her first book The Metaphysics of Margaret Cavendish and Anne Conway: Monism, Vitalism, and Self-Motion will be available in February 2023.

Abstract of the talk: Emilie du Châtelet’s views on the nature of powers of minds and bodies is fairly straightforward. She maintains that all bodies and minds have a power of self-motion. However, her accounts of the exemplification of these powers takes us into some of the most perplexing issues in her metaphysical system. In this paper, I will explicate her views on powers, the nature of minds and bodies, and lay out some of the reasons why one might think her account is inconsistent. In discussing these issues, I will draw on some recent work by Katherine Brading on the nature of bodies and why du Châtelet might be committed to a form of hard determinism. I will also discuss issues about the powers of the mind and argue for a new way of reading du Châtelet’s “On Liberty.”

I hope many of you will be able to join us for an interesting talk and a friendly and engaged discussion!  If you have registered for the New Voices talk series previously, you do not need to register again. If you haven’t registered before and need a Zoom link, please register here: contact@historyofwomenphilosophers.org (an email that indicates your full name and has ‘New Voices Talk Series’ in the subject is sufficient).

New Voices is an international group for scholars working on women in the history of philosophy at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists. New Voices intends to interconnect and further the work of scholars in the field of Women Philosophers in the History of Philosophy. New Voices is currently organized by Clara Carus, Jil Muller, and Aaron Wells, with the help of Violeta Milicevic and the rest of the team at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists (directed by Ruth Hagengruber). For further information about New Voices or to join New Voices please visit: https://historyofwomenphilosophers.org/projects/new-voices-on-women-in-the-history-of-philosophy/

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