Please join us for a talk by Prof. Robert Doran (U. of Rochester) on "How Theory Became Ethics" on Friday, April 24, at 4:30PM.
"How Theory Became Ethics"
This talk endeavors to examine the seeming contradiction of how the same "Theory" that, in its formative phase (1966-1987), was denounced as amoral, nihilistic, and quietist—due to its “relativist,” “textualist,” and “anti-subjectivist” bent—could also be the source of the “political turn” (late 80s/1990s) in the humanities, as well as a wellspring for liberal activists.
Was it a matter of illegitimate appropriation? Was Theory hijacked by well-meaning but naïve academics and do-gooders? Or was the development of an activist-political dimension of Theory simply the logical or inevitable consequence of this discourse itself?
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About the Speaker: Robert Doran is Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of Rochester and an Affiliate Faculty member of the Music Theory Department of the Eastman School of Music. He is the author or editor of eight books, including the monographs The Theory of the Sublime from Longinus to Kant (Cambridge University Press, 2015), which was translated into Spanish in 2021, and The Ethics of Theory: Philosophy, History, Literature (Bloomsbury, 2017).
Most recently, he has edited Liszt and Virtuosity (University of Rochester Press, 2020), which was a co-winner of the 2023 Alan Walker Triennial Book Award, and two volumes of Hayden White’s late essays for Cornell University Press entitled The Ethics of Narrative. His current book projects include Revolutionary Aesthetics: The Sublime in Nineteenth-Century France and Slavery and Philosophy.
The talk will be followed by a reception in NCH 349 at 6:00 PM.