Description: Melville is not recognized for the clarity of his philosophical arguments. But the argument driving this panel is that Melville’s philosophical arguments have been miscategorized—taken to embody the ethos of the distinctively modern world when what they offer is nothing less than a wide-ranging rejection of modernity’s dominant assumptions. Panelists turn a harsh light on some of the beliefs that characterize modern Western thought.

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Speakers

Kim Leilani Evans, State U of New York, Cortland

Timothy Sweet, West Virginia U, Morgantown

Jason de Stefano, U of California, Berkeley

Willis McCumber, U at Buffalo, State U of New York

Pilar Martinez Benedi, U of Turin

Joe Conway, U of Alabama, Huntsville

Presider

Kim Leilani Evans, State U of New York, Cortland

Respondent

Michael Puett, Harvard U