Thomas Nail, distinguished scholar and professor of Philosophy at the University of Denver, will be the guest speaker at a pair of Philosophy Department events on Wednesday, March 18, and Thursday, March 19.
- March 18, The Figure of the Migrant, in Room 317 of the Briggs Building: The talk introduces the main ideas of Nail’s books, The Figure of the Migrant and Theory of the Border, rethinking the nature of political philosophy and history from the perspective of migration. Nail has expanded his analysis to incorporate the advent of climate change and migration in deep Earth history. The conversation will step back and look at the longest and widest frame for which to illuminate the current events of unprecedented global migration and climate change.
- March 19, The Birth of Order from Chaos: Perspectives from Comparative World Mythology, in Loranger Architecture Building Exhibition Space: The conversation explores the meaning of the word ‘chaos,’ from an immanent worldview where the oldest native language cosmogonic texts say the cosmos was born from chaos. During this lecture, Nail will present a summary of his research from his latest two unpublished books, The Birth of Chaos and The Birth of Order. His presentation will outline the common features of the world’s oldest recorded cosmogonies and argue that they offer a compelling movement-oriented alternative to post Axial-Age worldviews.
In addition to the works mentioned above, Nail is the author of numerous books, including Theory of the Earth, Marx in Motion, The Philosophy of Movement, Lucretius I, II, III, and Being and Motion. His research focuses on the philosophy of movement.
The March 18 event is co-sponsored by Carney Latin American Solidarity Archive (CLASA).
All are welcome to attend to these free events. Please contact Gail Presbey at presbegm@udmercy.edu with any questions or for more information.