The Association for the History of Political Thought Conference
March 1st - 2nd, 2024
The University of Texas, Austin
Sponsors
Theme: “Democracy and Its Pathologies”
Through an analysis of historical texts, papers will address questions such as: what is the best case for democracy, and what is the best case against it? Does the democratic regime have a democratic soul modeled on it? Is modern democracy different in kind than ancient democracy? Does democracy foster its own defective political forms (demagoguery, populism)?
Participants
-
Richard Bourke
University of Cambridge -
Michelle Clarke
Dartmouth University -
Susan Collins
University of Notre Dame -
Greg Conti
Princeton University -
Aurelian Craiutu
Indiana University, Bloomington -
Michael Gillespie
Duke University -
Ryan Patrick Hanley
Boston College -
Kinch Hoekstra
University of California, Berkeley -
Dan Kapust
University of Wisconsin, Madison -
Harvey Mansfield
Harvard University -
Clifford Orwin
University of Toronto -
Lorraine Pangle
University of Texas at Austin -
John Scott
University of California, Davis -
Steven Smith
Yale University -
Ann Ward
Baylor University
Please REGISTER for the conference. Registration is free, and the conference is open to the public.
The Conference will be held at the Joe C. Thompson Conference Center at the University of Texas, Austin
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
March 1
8:30-9 Breakfast
9-10:45 Panel #1
Ann Ward (Baylor), “Democracy, Relativism, and Forbidden Fruit in Plato’s Republic”
Sue Collins (Notre Dame), “No Better than Beasts? Aristotle’s Partial Defense of Democracy”
Lorraine Pangle (University of Texas, Austin), “Aristotle on How Democracies Understand Freedom Badly”
Chair: Devin Stauffer (University of Texas, Austin)
11-12:15 Panel #2
Michelle Clarke (Dartmouth), “Liberty and the People in Cicero’s Pro Rabirio perduellionis reo”
Dan Kapust (University of Wisconsin, Madison), “Roman Rhetoric and Civic Education”
Chair: Cary Nederman (Texas A&M)
12:15-1:45 Lunch
1:45-3 Panel #3
Kinch Hoekstra (Berkeley), “Thomas Hobbes on Absolute Democracy”
Ryan Hanley (Boston College), “Pascal’s Political Philosophy”
Chair: Alin Fumurescu (University of Houston)
3-3:30 Break
3:30-4:45 Panel #4
Helena Rosenblatt (CUNY), “Mme de Stael and the Meaning of Democracy in Early Liberalism”
John Scott (California, Davis), “Constant’s Critique of Rousseau on Democracy”
Chair: Constantine Vassiliou (University of Texas, Austin)
March 2
8:30-9 Breakfast
9-10:45 Panel #5
Richard Bourke (Cambridge), “Hegel, Constitutionalism, and Democracy”
Greg Conti (Princeton), “The Structure of Anti-Democratic Thought in Nineteenth Century Britain”
Clifford Orwin (University of Toronto), “A Higher and More Farsighted Pity: Nietzsche’s Critique of Democratic Compassion”
Chair: Dwight Allman (Baylor)
11-12:45 Panel #6
Steven Smith (Yale), “How Abraham Lincoln Created American Democracy”
Aurelian Craiutu (Indiana), “Tocqueville, Liberty, and the Future of American Democracy”
Michael Gillespie (Duke), “Speaking, Preaching, Writing, Printing, Broadcasting, Texting: the Fora of Democratic Discourse and Miscourse”
Chair: Lee Ward (Baylor)
12:45-2 Lunch