History of Philosophy Research Group Talk (Amy Schmitter, Alberta)
Tuesday May 5, 2026, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
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The History of Modern Philosophy Group is pleased to welcome as its guest speaker Amy Schmitter, a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Alberta. Dr. Schmitter’s research interests include the history of early modern philosophy, the philosophy of art, the history of metaphysics and philosophy of mind, the history of theories of emotions, and feminist approaches to the history of philosophy.
Talk Title
“Affective Remedy, Government and Standards: Naturalist Strategies for Ameliorating the Passions in Early Modern Philosophy”
Talk Abstract
Many early modern philosophers turn to what they variously called the ‘passions,’ ‘affects,’ or ‘sentiments’ as a reservoir of naturalist solutions to problems in philosophical psychology. Although the term “naturalist” is a bit anachronistic, I hope to show that it is a fair description of how a number of early modern philosophers thought the passions shape our experience as finite, embodied creatures immersed in social and physical environments not of our own making. At the same time, those philosophers thought we could improve on the passionate hand, so to speak, that nature had dealt us. Here I will explore some of the myriad ways that Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, and (maybe) Hume offer for moderating, remedying, regulating, or governing our passionate dispositions that can justifiably be considered naturalist.
One of six departmental Research Interest Groups, the History of Philosophy Group explores topics in ancient and/or medieval philosophy, the period from Descartes to Kant, and Jewish philosophy from the medieval period to the 20th century.
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