|
THE 35TH ANNUAL MEETING of the Bertrand Russell Society took place from June 27 to June 29 at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York at the invitation of David White and Tim Madigan. Located in upstate New York, the college was unexpectedly found to be less in the suburbs of Rochester and more in the country outside of Rochester. The setting for the meeting was beautiful and the meeting convivial. After the usual registration and settling in, the board of directors met for a prolonged discussion of the business affairs of the society, followed by a gathering at a local pub. It was the general consensus of those present that more work was accomplished at the meeting than at any other board meeting in recent memory. (See the meeting minutes in this issue of the Quarterly.) Presentations began the next morning and continued though Sunday noon. On Saturday, Marvin Kohl addressed the potentially controversial issue of “Russell and the Utility of Religion” and was followed by Tim Madigan and John Novak’s informative talk “Russell and Dewey in China.” The editors of the Quarterly then took turns describing the process of writing (and rewriting) their forthcoming Historical Dictionary of Bertrand Russell’s Philosophy. Andrew Cavallo took the floor immediately before the session broke for lunch, with a discussion titled “Russell’s Conception of Ethics.” A catered lunch was followed by a master class hosted by Peter Stone (Stanford University) on “Russell’s Appeal to the American Conscience.” Due to the cancellation of Weiping Zheng’s trip, his paper “Remarks on Russell’s Logic from a Chinese Point of View,” was not heard. Thomas Riggins concluded the afternoon with his talk “Russell and Rousseau.” As is customary, the BRS session then broke and members met later for a cocktail hour and banquet at a local restaurant. Thimble amounts of Red Hackle were ceremoniously quaffed in honor of Russell’s favorite scotch. In the morning, the talks resumed after breakfast, with Gregory Landini speaking on “Russell and the Ontological Argument” followed by Andrew Bone’s informative talk on “Russell and India.” Chad Trainer, an independent Russell scholar currently interested in the history of philosophy, then gave a talk titled “Russell’s History on Locke and Spinoza.” After lunch Russell Wahl addressed the subject of “Analysis and Acquaintance,” before Howard Blair asked “Did Bertrand Russell Know the Deal on Causation?” Many of these talks employed a computer-driven projection screen, and Blair was able to demonstrate his advanced technical proficiency not only in physics but in computers by employing his cell phone as a modem so as to run the projector when the internet was temporarily unavailable via the computer. Cara Rice completed the program with “Russell and Shelley,” showing clearly the unexpected interest Russell took in that poet. VOTER ALERT! Forget national politics. It will soon be time for the Bertrand Russell Society to vote for eight new members to its board of directors! Nominations are drawing to a close and ballots will be in the mail soon. Come what may, don't delay, but make hay, and vote today! UPCOMING PAPERS AT THE EASTERN APA. The Bertrand Russell Society in conjunction with HEAPS, the History of Early Analytic Philosophy Society, will meet for a combined session at the eastern division of the American Philosophical Association on December 29, 9-11 am. Speakers are Nikolay Milkov (Universität Paderborn-Germany) on “Bertrand Russell’s Religious Humanism,” David Godden (Old Dominion University) on “Frege on the Nature of Proof”, and Montgomery Link (Suffolk University) on “Russell’s Constructivistic Introduction to the Second Edition of the Principia.” ENDOWED BERTRAND RUSSELL CHAIRS. Louis J. Appignani has informed BRS board member Warren Allen Smith that he (Appignani) is in the process of endowing two Bertrand Russell chairs at Colombia University and at the University of Miami. Each endowment will require the university to convene an annual conference relating to the philosophy of Bertrand Russell, with specific emphasis on community outreach. BERTRAND RUSSELL SOCIETY LIBRARY. The following audio, video, film and print items have been added to the members area: “Experiences of a Pacifist in the First World War” (1955), The Kalinga Prize Press Conference (1958, video, 30 minutes), and The Russell-Teller Debate, part 1 (1960, video, 30 minutes) that took place on “Small World” with Edward Murrow, “Speaking of Liberty”, an interview with Rex Stout and Bertrand Russell on NBC in 1941, “When the Philosopher Sat Down” a BBC 4 production on the Committee of 100, and “Living in an Atomic Age”, six lectures on ABC in 1951. THE GREATER NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER of the Bertrand Russell Society met August 3, 2008 in the Winter Garden room in lower Manhattan and then moved to a local restaurant with a view of the statue of liberty, the yacht basin, and the ships on the Hudson river. The attendees discussed the books that Eric Walther contributed to the Commonwealth of Dominica BRS library. Thom Weidlich and Peter Stone reported details about the recent Rochester meeting. Warren Allen Smith called attention to a change in Dr. Marvin Kohl’s Philosopedia entry. He then reported that Taslima Nasrin has received the key to the city by the Mayor of Paris and has received the Simone deBeauvoir Award in Paris. Her application for US citizenship is in process. Smith is currently editing Ms. Nasrin’s book, Women Have No Country. CALL FOR PAPERS. The Bertrand Russell Society and the History of Early Analytic Philosophy Society call for papers for a combined session at the meeting of the Central division of the American Philosophical Association February 18-22, 2009 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, Illinois. Send submissions on some topic related to Bertrand Russell’s life and work or to the history of analytic philosophy by November 1 to rosalind.carey@lehman.cuny.edu. NEW AND FORTHCOMING BOOKS. Alan Schwerin, ed., under the auspices of the Bertrand Russell Society, Russell Revisited: Critical Reflections on the Thought of Bertrand Russell. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2008. Omar W. Nasim, Bertrand Russell and the Edwardian Philosophers: Constructing the World. London: Palgrave MacMillan, forthcoming 2008. Rosalind Carey and John Ongley, A Historical Dictionary of Bertrand Russell’s Philosophy. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, forthcoming March 2009.
IN MEMORIUM: Mr. Andres Käärik (1954-2007) of Stockholm, Sweden. His wife, Karen Käärik, informs us that her husband passed away on October 20, 2007. Andres Käärik was a member of the Bertrand Russell Society from 1981 to 2007.
|