Having trouble viewing this email? View an online version<http://wordvine.sydney.edu.au/files/59/4301> WE INVITE YOU TO *A SYDNEY IDEAS* FORUM [image: The University of Sydney] PHILOSOPHY IN THE AGE OF DEMOCRACY
*Co-presented with the Department of Philosophy <http://sydney.edu.au/arts/philosophy/about/index.shtml>, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry *Plato notoriously condemned the democratic way of life as the second-to-worst form of life, and he equally notoriously recommends rule by philosophers as the only available cure. This suggests a traditional hostility between philosophy and democracy, with philosophers casting themselves as the would-be overlords of politics and culture. Suspicions of this hostility were re-activated after the Second World War by concerns about barbaric political movements supposedly inspired by philosophical outlooks, and in a diminished form, similar suspicions towards philosophy as of interest only to non-representative "elites" sometimes reemerge in discussions of government funding of the humanities. For good reasons, we have trouble accepting both Plato's cure and his image of philosophy. Yet his indictment of democratic life and culture is as pertinent as ever. How then, if it at all, might a refigured practice of philosophy play a central, vital role within a flourishing democratic culture? How does healthy democracy both depend on and inform philosophical education? Furthermore, how might philosophical research into apparently non-practical matters be of general relevance to the community? What benefits might tax-payers expect to flow from public support of philosophical research? In the light of comments made in last year's federal election campaign about research funding for philosophy projects, a panel of philosophers address different aspects of these pressing questions. *Participants:* *Professor Paul Redding* is ARC DORA Fellow in the department of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. He works on the continental idealist tradition in philosophy and its relation to contemporary movements in philosophy. *Professor Richard Eldridge* is the Charles and Harriett Cox McDowell Professor of Philosophy, at Swarthmore College, USA. He specialises in aesthetics and theory of criticism, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy and literature, German idealism and Wittgenstein. *Dr Dalia Nassar* (participating chair) is an ARC DECRA Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sydney. Her areas of research include German romantic and idealist philosophy, history of the idea of nature, environmental philosophy, aesthetics, and theories of interpretation. more event information<http://whatson.sydney.edu.au/events/published/sydney-ideas-philosophy-in-the-age-of-democracy-forum> TUESDAY 25 MARCH 6 to 7.30pm Law School Foyer Level 2, Sydney Law School Eastern Avenue The University of Sydney Click here for venue information<http://sydney.edu.au/law/about/campus.shtml><http://sydney.edu.au/law/about/campus.shtml> RSVP Free event with online registration requested. Click here<http://whatson.sydney.edu.au/events/published/sydney-ideas-philosophy-in-the-age-of-democracy-forum> for the online registration page. Stay connected with Sydney Ideas and like us on facebook<http://www.facebook.com/sydney.ideas>and follow us on twitter. <https://twitter.com/Sydney_Ideas> You'll be the first to hear about upcoming events and special offers. To make sure you continue to see our emails in the future, please add [email protected] to your address book or safe senders list To unsubscribe, reply to this email with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line Disclaimer <http://sydney.edu.au/disclaimer.shtml> | Privacy statement<http://sydney.edu.au/privacy.shtml>| University of Sydney <http://sydney.edu.au/>
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