Negativity and Freedom Lecture Series, New York City, Summer 2003

Negativity and Freedom:

Philosophic Alternatives to Capitalism, War and Terror

The Bush Administration's war against Iraq not only exposed the inhumanity of war, but also the inhumanity of the entire social, political and economic system upon which the world is based. Can growing opposition to the U.S. drive for permanent war issue a new challenge to capitalism-imperialism? What kind of social relations represent an alternative to this system? What concepts of liberation can help us develop an expansive vision of a different world? To explore such questions, we are holding discussions on "Negativity and Freedom: Philosophic Alternatives to Capitalism, War and Terror." We aim to explore with new eyes the work of Marx, including his theories of capital and commodity fetishism, and the work of Hegel, whose ideas Marx considered "the source of all dialectic." We will explore how the dialectic in Hegel and Marx was re-created in our day in the development of Marxist-Humanism. All this will be undertaken in light of contemporary philosophic alternatives, from post-structuralism to pragmatism, from existentialism to autonomist Marxism. In this way, we hope to help work out collectively a philosophy of liberation for our times. The readings will include selections from the Marxist-Humanist thinker Raya Dunayevskaya and from various European philosophers, including Michel Foucault, Theodor Adorno, Julia Kristeva and Antonio Negri.

June 3 MARX'S CONCEPT OF FETISHISM?
and the Debate Over Humanism, Structuralism, and Post-Structuralism

June 10 INTRODUCING THE DIALECTIC IN HEGEL AND MARX...
and Pragmatism's Attack on Dialectics

June 24 HEGEL'S PHENOMENOLOGY I: STARING NEGATIVITY IN THE FACE...
and Debates on the Dialectic of Race and Slavery

July 1 HEGEL'S PHENOMENOLOGY II: THE SELF-ALIENATED SPIRIT
OF MODERNITY? From the French Revolution to Today

July 15 HEGEL'S ABSOLUTES... END OF HISTORY OR VISION OF A
NEW SOCIETY?... and the Challenges from Critical Theory and Existentialism

July 22 TOWARD THE DIALECTICS OF ORGANIZATION AND PHILOSOPHY...
and the Challenge to Youth and Women from Post-Structuralism and Empire

The syllabus and readings are available from News and Letters. Call (212) 663-3631 or e-mail nandl@igc.org (indicate you want to attend the NY meetings). Visit us at newsandletters

Or pick up syllabus and readings at our May 27 meeting.