On Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7, from 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., the Hannah Arendt / Reiner Schürmann Memorial Symposium in Political Philosophy will take place in the Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor.

On the first day of the symposium speakers and topics will include John Richardson, New York University on “Nietzsche on Life’s Ends”; Leonard Lawlor, Pennsylvania State University on “Becoming and Auto-Affection: Who Are We?” and Philip Kitcher, Columbia University on “The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy.”

The second day’s speakers and topics will include Christoph Menke, Universität Potsdam on “Force”; Eckart Förster, Johns Hopkins University on “Can Philosophy Comprehend Life?”; and Evan Thompson, University of Toronto on “Autonomy in Life.”
 
The symposium, which is free and open to the public, was started in 1980 by Reiner Schürmann, the chair of the philosophy department at the time. The purpose was to look at contemporary issues in political philosophy of importance to Hannah Arendt’s thinking. After Reiner Schürmann’s passing, in 1993, the symposium was renamed to include both its founder and its inspiration. The symposia are organized twice yearly and held on two consecutive days, with the participation of American and foreign scholars.