workshop abstracts

Trevor Adams Graduate Student, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Hope can range from the mundane (e.g. I hope the department party has cookies) to the life defining (e.g. I hope humanity comes together to overcome climate change). Hope theorists consider rationality constraints on hope that they claim encompass the whole spectrum of hopes we can have (Adrienne Martin (2013), Milona and Stockdale (2018), Luc Bovens (1999), Ariel Meirav (2009), Pettit (2004) etc.). However, there is a type of hope, that I call foundational hope that seems to have conditions on rationality that depart from the typical conditions. This is because a foundational hope has practical reasons that can outway potentially deficient epistemic reasons for hope. All hope theorists agree that the following two conditions are necessary for hope: (i) S must believe that the hoped for outcome is possible, but not be certain that it will occur. (ii) S must desire that the hoped for outcome obtains. Hence our having both practical reasons to desire the outcome and epistemic reasons for our belief that it is possible. Thus, if S’s hope is to be rational, it is a necessary condition on hope that their subsequent belief and desire be justified. I want to argue, against some theorists, that the epistemic side deserves as much weight as it is oen given. There are cases where the hope one has may fail to fully appreciate what the chances really are of the outcome obtaining and nevertheless are justified. These are cases where S must choose between hope or despairing of life itself, these hopes are thus foundational (the metaphor being that without them, the person's mental life would come crashing down). In such cases, one’s practical reasons to hope are such they outweigh any epistemic constraints. Foundational Hope (Coffee Hour) https://www.wix.app/bookings/eb8a912c-ef9c-48a3-8e33-8769d18639ff/service/577e1a05-9619-4771-8c0a-786af33b7300/details?d=https://www.cogtweeto.com/service-page/foundational-hope-coffee-hour-1

Michael R. Spicher (@MRSpicher) Independent Adjunct, MassArt and Boston Architectural College Scraping and cleaning the inside of a petrol tank, Primo Levi toiled away the hours, trapped as a prisoner in Auschwitz. One day, through a kind of fortunate situation, he was chosen to accompany a fellow prisoner to lug back the daily ration of food for themselves and the other prisoners in their group. While walking across the camp—they took the scenic route—Levi began to recite Dante to this younger man, who had no experience with Dante. The Canto of Ulysses, Levi quoted a stanza, but then got stuck at a certain connecting line. He couldn’t remember the connecting lines. In his frustration, he proclaims that he would have given up his daily ration of food, just to remember. “For a moment I forget who I am and where I am.” (Levi, If This is a Man, 119). This story comes from Levi’s experience in a very dark place at a very dark time in recent history. When discussing the most important things for human life, people may often turn to food, water, health, and shelter. Rarely, if ever, will someone quickly turn to beauty. As it stands, people frequently list beauty more as something to be added onto a life, once things are going well. It’s a luxury to be able to consider beauty. This assumption contradicts a lot of recounted experience from people in dire circumstances, as demonstrated by the Levi story as well as art therapy after natural disasters and art-making in prisons. Emerson, in his journals, wrote with poignant eloquence: “We fly to beauty as an asylum from the terrors of finite nature.” Beauty and aesthetic experience, through art and nature, play an important role in helping us overcome or survive dark times. People disagree about which things are beautiful or the degree of their beauty, but they don’t disagree that beauty exists and is worth seeking. Why we seek beauty is a question many struggle to answer. I think the beginning of an answer is suggested in the natural law tradition that has its roots in Aristotle. Aristotle connects beauty with order, among others things, because the mind delights in order. During chaotic times, we turn to beauty in part because of its order. More recent natural law theory complements this point by lifting aesthetic experience to the role of a basic human good. Unfortunately, natural law is not particularly popular outside of conservative (especially Catholic) political and ethical thought; however, they highlight something important in their starting point. John Finnis and Mark Murphy begin their respective theories with the claim that people have basic reasons for action, and they both name aesthetic experience as one of those reasons. One only needs to consider, for present purposes, that people positive aesthetic experiences (of beauty, elegance, order, etc.) over negative aesthetic experiences (ugliness, chaos, etc.). The specifics will vary among different people and different cultures, but the general principle that people seek out aesthetic experiences seems almost trivially true. If pursuing aesthetic experience, to varying degrees, is a basic motivation for people that enhances their life for the better, then beauty (and other aesthetic properties) is necessary (possibly more so) in dark times. It helps us transcend, even momentarily, from the darkness and chaos, and gives us a glimmer of hope. And those that may not currently be in dark times may gain some empathy from exposure to art work produced from those who are. I think this discussion would revolve around some neglected positive ideas from natural law theory, and that art and beauty, rather than being frivolous, are powerful tools to help us overcome or survive dark times. Seeking Beauty in Darkness (Coffee Hour) https://www.wix.app/bookings/eb8a912c-ef9c-48a3-8e33-8769d18639ff/service/23c96107-e014-4cce-a7f3-878e7a5822e2/details?d=https://www.cogtweeto.com/service-page/seeking-beauty-in-darkness-coffee-hour-1

Leo Lepiano (@nobodyslion) Independent Scholar [Extended abstract] Back to the Rough Ground (Coffee Hour) https://www.wix.app/bookings/eb8a912c-ef9c-48a3-8e33-8769d18639ff/service/3ceff86d-b4d1-4b36-a8c3-ad2b59e97e36/details?d=https://www.cogtweeto.com/service-page/back-to-the-rough-ground-coffee-hour-1