We are pleased to announce the coming Ciceronian Society Conference, March 27-29, 2014, at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, MD. Scholars such as James Matthew Wilson, Jeff Taylor, David Walsh, Bruce Frohnen, Gerald Russello, Marshall DeRosa, Macon Boczek, Eugene Callahan and many more will be presenting thoughtful papers related to the themes below. If you are interested in attending the conference, please contact peterhaworth@theciceroniansociety.com for more information.
Please consider the following call for papers for more information about the Ciceronian Society’s substantive orientation:
The Ciceronian Society seeks to foster values and ideas related to traditionalism, decentralism, liberty, and the critique of political rationalism. Ciceronian Society papers should address one or more of the following themes: (1) the theory (which is well articulated by Burke and Oakeshott) that human beings are fallible and, hence, in need of established (time-tested) community, organic institutions of civil society, and often hierarchy (albeit, the form and manifestation of this is highly debatable) for their healthy functionality; (2) the ancient and medieval recognition of both transcendent reality and the need for human life to function according to its natural end (i.e., design); (3) along with Hume, Burke, Anscombe, and MacIntyre, a critical evaluation of the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment view of political order; (4) valuing agrarianism’s contribution to humane living (e.g., reflecting on agrarians like Randolph, Taylor, the Southern Agrarians, Weaver, and Berry); (5) sharing the concern of Aristotle, Cicero, Hume, Burke, Randolph, Tocqueville, and Nisbet about maintaining a human scale to political order, and, hence, recognizing the importance of localism and problems associated with centralization; (6) the importance of nomocracy (i.e., rule of law) for protecting liberty within large, complicated, and modern political communities; and (7) the neglected virtues of modern continental philosophy.
A fee of $50 (that excludes conference meals and hospitality) will be charged to non-students who attend the conference presentations. Student attendance is free. Given both that seating may be limited and that this is a scholarly conference, attendees need to pre-register through contacting Peter Haworth at peterhaworth@theciceroniansociety.com.
