Rebecca Bamford, Quinnipiac University at the Royal Holloway Centre for Continental Philosophy on ‘Nietzsche, the ethical, and disability’: 19 March.
‘Nietzsche, the ethical, and disability’
Prof. Rebecca Bamford, Quinnipiac University
RHUL CCP Research Seminar (online)
Friday, 19 March: 2pm-3.30pm
The third session of the Royal Holloway Centre for Continental Philosophy research seminar will take place on Friday, March 19th from 2pm-3.30pm. Prof. Rebecca Bamford (Quinnipiac University) will be presenting the paper, which is entitled ‘Nietzsche, the ethical, and disability’. The seminar will be online (via MS Teams) – if you would like to attend, please email Henry Somers-Hall ([email protected]). Here’s an abstract for the paper:
Nietzsche, the ethical, and disability
Here, I discuss two of the conceptual tools from Nietzsche’s published writings that are relevant to the project of challenging ableism: Nietzsche’s critical engagement with the ethics of Mitleid, and his concept of will to power. I follow previous work on this issue by Susan Stocker (2002), who has suggested that Nietzsche’s critique of Mitleid is helpful to understanding disability in life-affirming, non-ableist, terms. As I discuss, where my view differs from Stocker’s analysis is in the greater emphasis that I place on the social dimensions of Nietzsche’s ethics, and in particular, on how this shapes our understanding of Nietzsche’s thinking on virtues. I also examine the extent to which Nietzsche’s concept of will to power understood as will to life aligns with the social model of disability’s distinction between impairment and disability (Peña-Guzmán & Reynolds 2019). Finally, I consider, and respond to, some of the concerns involved in challenging ableism through Nietzsche’s philosophy.
You can find more information about the Centre, as well as the other talks this term here: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-teaching/departments-and-schools/philosophy/research/centre-for-continental-philosophy/
If you asked to be put on the mailing list for the CCP after the first two talks, but haven’t received an email about this session directly, please do get in contact with Henry Somers-Hall ([email protected]) and he will ensure you’re on the list going forward.