Subjective SecurityOlúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò (Georgetown University)
Tuesday, November 29, 6:30 p.m.
(ET)GC Room 9205-06
And online
via Zoom
We are excited to welcome philosopher Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò as our fourth and final colloquium speaker of Fall 2022. The talk will be followed by a Q&A with the speaker.
This is an in-person event that will allow for virtual participation via Zoom. The in-person talk will be followed by a reception with wine and snacks.
If you plan to attend virtually, please
register in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining.
Members of the public who wish to attend should email us. They may enter the GC if they show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test taken within 7 days prior to the visit.
Abstract
The distinction between “negative” and “positive” freedom focuses on the political and ethical subject’s relationships with herself and with other people. Materialists have tended to focus more on the direct contribution of the social circumstances in which the subject finds herself (e.g. her relationship to the means of production and the means of subsistence). In this talk I try out one strategy for reconciling the former focus with the latter, one rooted in the political ideal of self-determination, which I associate with the latter group of thought. I’ll attempt to describe subjective security as a resource that allows a person to extend herself across time, institutions, and persons in ways that are vital for securing her freedom, and sketch some political implications of this view.
Speaker Bio
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. His work focuses on Africana and social/political philosophy and emphasizes themes and figures from anti-capitalist, anti-colonial, and Black radical traditions of thought and practice. He is also the author of Reconsidering Reparations (Oxford University Press, January 2022) and Elite Capture (Haymarket Press and Pluto Press, May 2022).
