The course takes place online through zoom
Registration by mail to hannepc@ikp.aau.dk - deadline August 15 (paper deadline - September 1)
Humanism in the Twenty-first Century aims at establishing a vibrant interdisciplinary forum for PhD students from a broad range of humanistic and social scientific disciplines working with questions relating to humanism and post-humanism. The dialogical format is to be seen as an invitation to partake in an attempt to rethink humanism and its role in the world of today. In addition to the generous time allowed for student presentations and related discussions, the program features six keynote-speakers who are all at the frontiers of a number of topic-related debates relating to the theme of the course. Theoretically, this course will pave the way for a deepened understanding of the predicaments related to what it means to be and not to be human today. Practically, the course will offer an arena for mutual inspiration and hopefully plant some seeds for future academic collaborations.
The three-day course will be held in English through Zoom.
Each day will include two key note lectures from invited scholars, 30 minutes presentations from participating PhD students (15 min presentation/15min discussion).
Paper requirements
Participating PhD students are asked to submit a 2-page paper presenting their take on humanism and/or how the course-related questions are relevant to their PhD project to: alfred@ikp.aau.dk before September 1, 2022. These abstracts will be distributed to the participants for reading one month before the course. Participants are obliged to read these papers and consider possible comments and points of discussion.
While preparing their papers, PhD students are kindly asked to acknowledge the interdisciplinary setting by keeping specialized language to a minimum and offering inclusive presentations.
Lecturers:
Lisa Guenther, Professor, Queen’s National Scholar in Political Philosophy and Critical Prison Studies, Canada
Martin Hauberg-Lund Laugesen, Postdoc, University of Southern Denmark
Jonna Bornemark, Professor of Philosophy, Södertörn University, Sweden
Thomas Schwarz Wentzer, Professor of Philosophy, Aarhus University, Denmark
Johan Eriksson, Psychoanalysist, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Södertörn University, Sweden
Alfred Sköld, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Aalborg University, Denmark
Description
“Good without a God” reads the current motto of The American Humanistic Association. Humanism is defined as ”a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.” Thus, Cicero’s concept of humanitas referring to the development of human virtue, in all its forms, to its fullest extent, and August Comte’s idea of a “religion of humanity” are still operative, albeit in less political versions. In many Western countries, civil baptizing, confirmations, and funerals are becoming increasingly common – often with reference to humanistic frameworks and organizations. In contrast to the generalized language of diagnostic manuals, humanistic psychotherapy – with its odd combination of existential thinking and positive psychology – emphasizes the uniqueness of each individual, its ability to face up to reality’s every obstacle, and the persistence of personal growth. The thought that being human is both something extraordinary among other living beings and inherently good, continues to attract considerable attention.
That said, the major crises of our century – and the progressive intellectual strands emerging in the efforts to address them – make it increasingly harder to swear the humanist oath without catching immediate and frenzic spitfire from various directions. While the pandemic has made us all acutely aware of the interconnectedness among human beings, it has likewise exposed and increased the vast differences and injustices that pervade our world. Asking the great unvaccinated population of sub-Saharan Africa, we’re not “in this together”. Similarly, the immediate consequences of the warming of the earth’s surface strike very differently worldwide. Equality and justice often fall outside the individualistic outlook of humanistic theories – the virtues of human-ness often seem to concern a very small portion of the world’s population. Evolutionary theory, poststructuralism, social constructivism, postcolonialism, speculative realism as well as new material and sociomaterial studies, have – in their various ways, denounced the exclusiveness and supremacy of humans in the great chain of being. Only psychoanalysis has, paradoxically, survived by making a humanistic point out the inhuman nature of the human psyche. Only humans commit inhuman acts and only humans, we may add, tend to become anti-humanists.
It is beyond reasonable doubt that many an unjust war have been fought under the banners of humanism, and that a large number of systemic inequalities have been defended with reference to “the greater good of humanity”. The category of the human, is, more often than not, a demarcation line specifying who will be included in a fragile ‘we’ worthy of protection and recognition. Yet still it appears difficult to declare the death of humanism, place it quietly on the shelves of history and embrace the golden era of posthumanism. The humanistic tradition stretches back to Thales and permeates every corner of the philosophical canon. Literature and art are often pointed towards when seeking the draw the magical line between humans and other mammals, and despite the fact that psychologists throughout the previous century identified animals with traits and capacities seemingly similar to humans, the riddle of consciousness (not to mention the unconscious) is still seen as a strictly human mystery.
One way of drawing the line between humans and other creatures is to point to the historic nature of our being. If we take it seriously that who we are is a question about how we respond to the many predicaments, crises, and dilemmas of the present – in light of what has been and what might become, humanism might be said to carry, within itself, a question asked in novel ways to every generation, situating any response somewhere on the axis between the existential universal and the culturally specific. In seeking to remedy unwarranted theoretical, conceptual and practical deadlocks surrounding both humanism and post-humanism, this PhD course launches an extensive dialogue-based investigation of the conditions of humanism today, posing the following questions:
- Is there a place for humanism in contemporary societies?
- Is “humanness” something that should be aspired to, transformed, or overcome?
- How do we understand possible distinctions between human and non-human beings?
- How can the relationship between humanism and universalism be conceived of?
- What does post- in “post-humanism” refer to?
- What is the role of humanism in respect to the realm of politics in general and identity politics in particular?
- What role does humanism play in our dealings with recent technological developments, AI, and new forms of digital existence?
- How does climate change affect our understandings of what it means to be human and non-human? Is the proper response a humanistic response, an altogether different version of humanism, or an abandonment of humanism all together?
- Are there pedagogical aspects of humanism that can inspire todays’ education practices or does it prevent necessary timely developments in this domain?
- Are there phases of, or traditions of humanism that are unjustly forgotten and worth returning to?
- How do we understand the relationship between humanism and religion? Is humanism an expression of secularism, religion for late modernity or something else entirely?
- Can humanistic and/or post-humanistic thinking inspire new ways of tackling the mental illnesses so prevalent in today’s societies?
Program
Day 1 – Tuesday, October 4
09:00 - 10:00 Introduction and presentation of participants
10:00 - 10:15: Break
10:15 - 11:45: Keynote 1: Alfred Sköld
Abstract: Humanism in between
Who are we, “us”, the so-called humans? This lecture explores the thought that humanism finds its place in between: between ontology and ethics, between the existential and the cultural, us and them, life and death. The vast diversity of human cultures can be seen as one great testament of the fact that there is no natural way for us to live. Yet, and despite this world of difference, all members of our species depend upon and live their lives together with human and non-human others – and in some kind of relation to death. I will argue that one way of responding to the question of what it means to be human, goes through a deepened understanding of the many entanglements between our relational and finite being. By drawing on psychoanalysis (Butler, Lear), existential phenomenology (Heidegger, Ruin) and deconstruction (Derrida, Hägglund), I will examine how the world(s) of humans can be perceived through the lens of an ontological vulnerability that is ethical through and through.
11:45 - 12:00: Break
12:00 - 13:00: Student presentations 1-2
13:00 - 13:45: Lunch
13:45 - 15:15: Keynote 2: Jonna Bornemark
Abstract: Reason and the task of humanities: thinking with Nicholas of Cusa
In modernity we have a tendency to reduce reason to a calculating rationality and as a consequence, I would claim, it is hard to understand such things as intellectual reflection. Nicholas of Cusa provides us with a broader understanding of reason, including both a relation to not-knowing, a relation to the most important ”quidditas” (whatness), and the structuring capacity of the ratio. By means of Cusa’s epistemology we can take a new look both upon contemporary ideas regarding rationality and the role of different institutions. In this lecture I will take a closer look on humanities: both what it is/can/should be from Cusa’s point of view, and its role in the society. With such a starting-point we could also together discuss the societal role of researchers in humanities and what a PhD in humanities can be.
15:15 - 15:30: Break
15:30 - 17:00: Student presentations 3-5
Day 2 – Wednesday, October 5
09:00 - 10:30: Keynote 3: Johan Eriksson
Abstract: Psychoanalysis – An Extension of Everyday Psychology
Ever since Freud created psychoanalysis as a theory and as a clinical practice, it has drawn attention from philosophers. With the concept of the dynamic unconscious Freud introduced a psychology in which the division between a personal and a sub-personal psychology was blurred; and the philosophical distinction between psychological explanations in terms of reasons, and explanations in terms of causes, became hard to uphold. In this lecture I will argue that psychoanalysis, as it was created by Freud, is an extension of what could be called everyday psychology, and I will try to show the implications of this extension when it comes to conceptualizing the human psyche.
10:30 - 10:45: Break
10:45 - 12:15: Student presentations 6-8
12:15 - 13:00: Lunch
13:00 - 14:30: Keynote 4: Thomas Schwarz Wentzer
Abstract: Four Theses on Humanism
The talk will defend four theses about humanism. A certain kind of collective mindset--for the lack of better alternatives labelled ‘humanism’--is unavoidable in ontological (1) as well as ethical/political (2) perspective. This mindset comes along with uneasiness and discomfort, rather than pride or confidence. Endorsing humanism on the basis of (1) and (2) is intrinsically linked to the historical burden of being a human being (3). Knowing oneself as human today means entering the domain of planetary responsibility, the scales and scope of which exceeds the imaginary of any former human generation (4).
14:30 - 14:45: Break
14:45 - 15:45: Student presentations 9-10
15:45 - 16:00: Break
16:00 - 17:00: Student presentations 11-12
Day 3 – Thursday. October 6
09:00 - 10:30: Keynote 5: Martin Hauberg-Lund Laugesen
Abstract: Ecomarxism and Flat Ontology?: On the humane kernel of anti-humanism
Humanism can be understood as the belief in human beings’ ethical ability to be morally moved by reasons to set aside their own desires in order to meet the needs of others or society at large – or to restore the cultural and natural conditions of possibility for those needs to be able to be met. Humanism thus entails the belief that the better angels of human nature will be summoned in times of crisis enabling human beings to act for the greater good and/or on behalf of others suffering the consequences of the dangers at hand. In the age of planetary climate crisis and climate injustice, the question concerning who (and what) needs to be included in the greater good is historically pressing. On philosophically different foundations, Andreas Malm and Timothy Morton have presented different accounts of the roles, responsibilities and capabilities of human beings. Rooted in historical materialism and object-oriented ontology respectively, Malm and Morton differ fundamentally in their expositions of the place of human beings inside of global warming. While Malm argues for the political dignity and moral decency of humanism, Morton argues for the ethical value of anti-humanism through the development of a flat ontology. In my lecture I will make the case for what I call the humane kernel of anti-humanism, sympathetically drawing on the works of both Malm and Morton.
10:30 - 11:15: Break
11:15 - 12:15: Student presentations 13-14
12:15 - 13:00: Lunch
13:00 - 14:00: Student presentations 15-16
14:30 - 15:00: Break
15:00 - 16:30: Keynote 6: Lisa Guenther
Abstract: A New Humanism? Or Beyond Humanism?
In the mid-twentieth century, anti-colonial philosopher, psychiatrist, and revolutionary activist Frantz Fanon called for “a new humanism” beyond the Manichean divide between black and white produced by slavery and colonialism. Sylvia Wynter extends Fanon’s analysis, arguing that the white, Christian, heterosexual, able-bodied male at the center of European humanism forecloses other, less violent ways of being human; for Wynter, the challenge is not to expand the category of the human to include marginalized others, but rather to re-invent “being human” as a plural, relational praxis. Other readers of Fanon have questioned the possibility, and even the desirability, of a new humanism. Frank B. Wilderson III argues that Blackness is antithetical to the human and to civil society as such, but he locates a radical potential for liberation beyond humanism in the “social death” of Blackness. In this session, we will critically discuss the possibilities and limits of humanism in the twenty-first century in light of these debates in Black studies.
16:30 -17:00: Beer and farewell
Literature
Lisa Guenther’s Lecture:
Primary readings:
Fanon, F. (1986) Black Skin, White Masks. Trans. Charles Lam Markmann. New York: Pluto Press. https://monoskop.org/images/a/a5/Fanon_Frantz_Black_Skin_White_Masks_1986.pdf
(Focus on Introduction, Chapters 5 and 7, and Conclusion)
Fanon, F. (1963) The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press. https://monoskop.org/images/6/6b/Fanon_Frantz_The_Wretched_of_the_Earth_1963.pdf
(Focus on Preface by Sartre, “On Violence,” and “On National Culture”)
Wynter, S. (2003), “Unsettling the Coloniality of Being/Power/Truth/Freedom: Towards the Human, after Man, Its Overrepresentation — An Argument,” CR: The New Centennial Review 3:3, 257 – 337. https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2432989/Wynter-2003-Unsettling-the-Coloniality-of-Being.pdf
Wilderson III, F. B. (2010). “Introduction” and “The Ruse of Analogy,” Red, White & Black: Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms. Durham, NC: Duke University Press
Secondary Readings:
Rodriguez, A. B. (2018). “Introduction: On Sylvia Wynter and the Urgency of a New Humanist Revolution in the Twenty-First Century.” American Quarterly 70:4. https://monoskop.org/images/d/de/American_Quarterly_70_4_Sylvia_Wynter_2018.pdf
Ferreira da Silva, D. (2009) “No-Bodies: Law, Raciality and Violence.” Griffith Law Review 18:2, 212-236.
https://www.academia.edu/8409408/No_bodies_Law_Raciality_and_Violence
McKittrick, K. 2016). (ed.) Sylvia Wynter: On Human Being as Praxis. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Scott, D. (2000), “The Re-Enchantment of Humanism: An Interview with Sylvia Wynter.” Small Axe 8 (Sept. 2000), 119-207. https://trueleappress.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/wynter-the-re-enchantment-of-humanism.pdf
Wilderson III, F. B. (2003), “The Prison Slave as Hegemony’s Silent Scandal.” Social Justice 3:2, 18-27. https://ufmrg.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/frank-b-wilderson-iii-the-prison-slave-as-hegeomnys-silent-scandal.pdf
Wynter, S (1994). “No Humans Involved: An Open Letter to my Colleagues.” Forum N.H.I. Knowledge for the 21st Century 1:1, Knowledge on Trial.
Martin Hauberg-Lund Laugesen’s Lecture:
Primary readings:
Malm, A. (2018). The Progress of This Storm: Nature and Society in a Warming World. Verso, chapter 3
Malm, A. (2019). Against Hybridism: Why We Need to Distinguish between Nature and Society, Now More than Ever. In: Historical Materialism (27:2), pp. 156-187
Morton, T. (2017). Humankind: Solidarity with nonhuman people. Verso.
Secondary readings:
Malm, A. (2016). Who Lit This Fire?: Approaching the History of the Fossil Economy. In: Critical Historical Studies (Fall 2016), pp. 215-248
Malm, A. & Hornborg, A. (2014). The Geology of Mankind?: A Critique of the Anthropocene Narrative. In: The Anthropocene Review (1:1), pp. 62-69
Malm, A. (2019). Against Hybridism: Why We Need to Distinguish between Nature and Society, Now More than Ever. In: Historical Materialism (27:2), pp. 156-187
Meillassoux, Q. (2009). After Finitude: An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency. Continuum, pp. 1-10
Morton, T. (2017). Humankind: Solidarity with nonhuman people. Verso.
Morton, T. & Boyer, D. (2021). Hyposubjects: On becoming human. Open Humanities Press.
Morton, T. (2011). Here Comes Everything: The Promise of Object-Oriented Ontology. In: Qui Parle (19:2), pp. 163-190.
Jonna Bornemark’s lecture:
Primary readings:
Bornemark, J. (2018). “The Limits of Ratio: An Analysis of NPM in Sweden using Nicholas of Cusa’s Understanding of Reason” in Metric Culture: Ontologies of Self-Tracking Practices, ed. Btihaj Ajana, Emerald publishing.
Cusanus, N. (1440) De docta ignorantia, In: Philosophische und theologische Schriften (pp. 51–169), Studienausgabe. Ed. and introduction by Eberhard Döring, German Translation by Anton Scharpff, Wiesbaden: Marix Verlag, 2005.
English translation: On Learned Ignorance (trans. Jasper Hopkins). Minneapolis: The Arthur J. Banning Press, 1989.
Cusanus, N. (1441) De Coniecturis, In Philosophische und theologische Schriften (pp. 170–209). Studienausgabe, Ed. and introduction by Eberhard Döring, German Translation by Anton Scharpff, Wiesbaden: Marix Verlag, 2005
English translation: On Surmises by Jasper Hopkins, Minneapolis: The Arthur J. Banning Press, 2000.
Secondary readings:
Bornemark, J (2018). Det omätbaras renässans: en uppgörelse med pedanternas världsherravälde, Stockholm: Volante. (In Swedish)
Thomas Shcwarz Wentzer’s lecture:
Primary readings:
Schwarz Wentzer, T. & Mattingly, C. (2018): Toward a New Humanism. An Approach from Philosophical Anthropology, in: HAU. Journal of Ethnographic Theory. Vol. 8 (1-2). 144-157.
https://doi.org/10.1086/698361
Chakarbarty, D. (2009): The Climate of History. Four Theses. In: Critical Inquiry 35 (Winter). 197-222. (available also in Chakarbarty, The Climate of History in a Planetary Age, Chicago. University of Chicago Press 2021).
Secondary readings:
Thomas, J. A., Williams, M & Zalasiewicz, J. (2020): “The Anthropos of the Anthropocene”, in: The Anthropocene. A Multidisciplinary Approach, 112-135. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Heidegger, M. (1947): Brief über den Humanismus. In: Wegmarken. Frankfurt a.M.: Klostermann 1976.
Johan Eriksson’s lecture:
Primary readings:
Gardner, S. (2000). Psychoanalysis and the personal/sub‐personal distinction, Philosophical Explorations, 3:1, 96-119.
Secondary readings:
Eriksson, J (2020). Psykoanalysens filosofi: En essä om psyke, vetenskap och klinisk praktik. Tankekraft förlag.
Alfred Sköld’s lecture:
Primary readings:
Butler, J (2005). An Account of Oneself. In: Butler, J (2005) Giving an Account of Oneself (pp. 3-41). Fordham University Press.
Lear, J. (2018). Wisdom Won from Illness. In: Wisdom Won from Illness – Essays in Philosophy and Psychoanalysis (pp. 11-30). Harvard University Press.
Sköld, A. (2021). Chapter 2: Life. In: Relationality and Finitude: A Social Ontology of Grief (pp. 51-89). PhD Dissertation. Aalborg University Press. https://www.kommunikation.aau.dk/digitalAssets/1014/1014806_relationality_and_finitude.pdf
Secondary readings:
Hägglund, M. (2019). This Life – Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom.
Ruin, H. (2018). Being with the Dead: Burial, Ancestral Politics, and the Roots of Historical Consciousness. Stanford University Press.
Sophocles (442/1 BC.) Antigone
- Teacher: Alfred Thomas Bordado Sköld