Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 3hReminded again just how different the way they do history of philosophy is in continental Europe 010
Reposted by Kenneth NovisThe Philosopher @philosopher1923.bsky.social · 28/09/2026TODAY! Mon Sep 28 ~ 2pm ET / 7pm UK "On Living with Men" Manon Garcia & Lori Morso start from the Pelicot trial to explore the political and philosophical questions raised by men's violence against women. How does patriarchy shape love? #Philosophy thephilosopher1923.substack.com/p/this-week-...thephilosopher1923.substack.comThis Week: “Living with Men” Event, “Harnessing the State” and “Philosopher & the News: Are We Living in End Times” videos, and a Volunteer OpportunityHow does the Pelicot trial affect our most intimate relationships? 054
Reposted by Kenneth NovisBloomsbury Philosophy @bloomsburyphilo.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Now in paperback! This 2nd edition Bloomsbury Handbook brings together the latest international scholarship to explore the biographical details of Spinoza's life, as well as essential scholarship on his influences and early critics. Available now: bit.ly/4bWbM9q 021
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I've been getting some questions about what Spinoza would think about AI ('make your research relevant'), but I'm a little stumped by it because one of the few things we actually know about him personally is that he resented automation 000
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I've got my slides and script all ready for the Rotterdam conference this week www.ozsw.nl/activity/rec... 030
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 24/09/2026What do we gain by saying 'if and only if,' rather than just 'only if'? 120
Reposted by Kenneth NovisThe Philosopher @philosopher1923.bsky.social · 23/09/2026#Philosophy #SexualAssault #MaritalRape #Patriarchy #Marriage #Love #Relationships @manongarcia.bsky.social @lorimarso.bsky.social Have a look at Manon Garcia's book, "Living with Men: Reflections on the Pelicot Trial," and we hope to see you on Monday! www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...politybooks.comLiving With Men: Reflections on the Pelicot TrialLiving With Men: Reflections on the Pelicot Trial, Manon Garcia is a rising star in feminist and public philosophy with a strong international following. Her previous books have been translated into n... 033
Reposted by Kenneth NovisManon Garcia @manongarcia.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I think (hope?) this will be a super interesting discussion. Lori Marso is an amazing feminist political theorist. Join us, it's free (although donations are welcome!) 1157
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Could Spinoza have read Montaigne? I've wondered where Spinoza gets his list of the three 'primitive passions' from, since they're not exactly present in Hobbes (who has two) or Descartes (who has six) . But the requisite three are there in Montaigne: fear, hope, and desire. 120
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Over the course of the summer, I've developed a real interest in Montaigne and Malebranche - they're both great fun to read, there's something very refreshing to their approaches! And all that, just in time to realise I don't actually need them for my dissertation... 150
Reposted by Kenneth NovisNate Holdren @nhold.bsky.social · 17/09/2026I wrote a review of Lorenzo Feltrin's very good book. I'd appreciate if you'd read the review and I hope it makes you want to read the book. prometheus-mag.com/2026/09/17/a...prometheus-mag.comA Review of "Workers and the World" - Prometheus MagazineNate Holdren reviews Lorenzo Feltrin's "Workers and the World: Fighting Ecological Crisis from Within", praising it for countering climate despair. 04722
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 15/09/2026I’m slowly learning that the key to writing about Spinoza is being deliberate about how deep you want to go. Sure, virtue is power, and power is perfection, and perfection is reality. But working out how anything can have degrees of reality for him gets messy fast. 040
Reposted by Kenneth NovisOxford University Studies in the Enlightenment @oxunienl.bsky.social · 08/07/2026New in July | 'The publication of Bayle and the origins of Hume's philosophy' edited by Jacopo Agnesina, Antony McKenna, and Gianluca Mori. Find out more, and purchase directly for 20% off RRP: bit.ly/OSEJuly26 #c18 #academicsky📖 @voltaire.ox.ac.uk 073
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 14/09/2026That this is an option on Grammarly is sheer evil 030
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 13/09/2026I wish I had something to submit to this, but my department forced me to stop working on Diderot. It’ll be great to see what comes out through it though! 020
Reposted by Kenneth NovisVoltaire Foundation @voltaire.ox.ac.uk · 07/07/2026Call for Papers! Especially welcome are proposals (in French) from doctoral students and Early Career Researchers working on Voltaire or Diderot. voltaire.ox.ac.uk/news-item/ca...voltaire.ox.ac.ukCall for Papers: Journées internationales jeunes chercheuses et chercheurs Diderot-Voltaire 2027Doctoral students and Early Career Researchers working on Voltaire or Diderot are warmly encouraged to submit proposals in French (by 30 September 2026) for the next Journées internationales jeunes… 0914
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 13/09/2026I’d love to teach a class just on The Rationalists sometime: 2 weeks each on Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Malebranche, and Du Châtelet 020
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 12/09/2026I've been considering how to describe this magazine that Pierre Bayle created in 1684, the Nouvelles de la république des lettres. He talks about books that interest him, and attacks anything he disagrees with, he publishes replies and always gives himself the last word. In other words, it's a blog. 040
Reposted by Kenneth NovisNick Clanchy @nickclanchy.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Pleased this paper has now finally been published: journals.publishing.umich.edu/ergo/article...journals.publishing.umich.eduInfrapolitical Strategies for Preventing Hermeneutical Injustices Amidst the Global Trans PanicPreviously proposed strategies for preventing hermeneutical injustices mostly take for granted the interests people have in various things about themselves being intelligible, and aim only to enable t... 1197
Reposted by Kenneth NovisDescartesLab @descarteslab.bsky.social · 04/07/2026📢the poster for the 3rd series of #DescartesLab seminar is available - with a lot on #music,🎶 #mind,🧠 cartesianism, and a fascinating book on #Mersenne! Events are online - to attend, contact us or follow the link in the poster⤵️ Join us! #Descartes #Cartesianism #histphilo #histsci #17thcentury 282
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 09/09/2026For this next conference paper I'm writing, I'm getting to look back at some passages in Diogenes Laertius, Cicero and Seneca that I'd bookmarked. I do admire how plain and conversational classical philosophy can be, there are far fewer bells and whistles than in the philosophy we write today. 120
Reposted by Kenneth NovisScott B Ritner @podsekalnikov.bsky.social · 07/09/2026If you're in Providence, RI or its environs this coming week, I'll be talking about my forthcoming book at Providence College on Thursday afternoon and Brown on Friday morning! 062
Reposted by Kenneth NovisEarly Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal @emwjournal.bsky.social · 22/06/2026We hope that lots of you will consider submitting a piece for our upcoming forum on early modern women and generations #EarlyModern 05551
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 30/08/2026To state the obvious: eking out a tolerably comfortable existence in an age of crumbling empires is horrifyingly difficult 1325
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 27/08/2026There used to be a statue of the great early modern philosopher Pierre Bayle in the French city of Pamiers, but it was destroyed in 1942. All that we have left of it are a few grainy photographs: 010
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 27/08/2026I spent a chunk of time today updating my website, but I feel like it's still missing something. Any thoughts? kennethnovis.weebly.comkennethnovis.weebly.comMY SITEUniversity of Oxford, DPhil Philosophy Candidate 000
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 24/08/2026You heard it here first: even Pierre Bayle thought that Oxford makes you evil 010
Reposted by Kenneth NovisAvi Lifschitz @diderotesque.bsky.social · 12/08/2026'Enlightenment Decentred': moving on from the centre-periphery paradigm and national Enlightenments to focus on connections and multi-directional transfer. Join us in Oxford, 30 Sep - 2 Oct: intellectualhistory.web.ox.ac.uk/event/enligh...intellectualhistory.web.ox.ac.ukEnlightenment Decentred: Networks, Media, Practices 13018
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 20/08/2026In the midst of continuing discussion about Spinoza's religion, this comment by Feuerbach is quite interesting. Perhaps when people claim that Spinoza's substance cannot be a God, it is because it cannot do what they only desire a God to be able to do. 451
Reposted by Kenneth Novisdr. caitlin m. green @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social · 19/08/2026the sliding reactionary time window strikes again: everything i don’t like was invented ten years ago, and everyone will realize i was right five years from now 75713
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 19/08/2026I wish I'd remembered this passage sooner, from Montag's book 'Bodies, Masses, Power' - against interminable the debates about what contribution reception history makes to philosophy, he insists that the reception of Spinoza's philosophy *is* an unravelling of that philosophy's effects 010
Reposted by Kenneth NovisStop Funding Hate @stopfundinghate.bsky.social · 18/08/2026A new study has found that the British public greatly overestimate the number of sex crimes committed by foreign nationals: www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home... Wonder where people might be getting such misconceptions… #ukmedia #migrants #gbnews #misleading #mediahate 611854
Reposted by Kenneth NovisTom Vandeputte @tomvandeputte.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Exactly how little Adorno is read today seems be accurately measured by the fact that none of the Nolan hot takes even bothers to cite the extensive interpretation of Odysseus in the Dialectic of Enlightenment 2186
Reposted by Kenneth NovisBloomsbury Philosophy @bloomsburyphilo.bsky.social · 07/08/2026Introducing 'A Genealogy of Italian Thought' 💭 Dario Gentili analyses the genesis of Italian thought through the history of the political and theoretical conflicts in Italy from the 1960s to the present. Learn more: bit.ly/4fwHGu8 094
Reposted by Kenneth NovisScott B Ritner @podsekalnikov.bsky.social · 14/08/2026My book is now available for preorder in Bookshop, for a VERY reasonable price of $34.50 for a paperback! Revolutionary Pessimism a book by Scott Ritner - Bookshop.org US share.google/lg3qiqx2CK2v...bookshop.orgBookshop.org: Buy books online. Support local bookstores.A better way to buy books online. Every purchase financially supports local independent bookstores. 043
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 14/08/2026I haggled today for the first time in my life. It's not a good feeling doing it, but I managed to talk a £60 book down to £45. 140
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 13/08/2026An eclipse occurring at the same time as a meteor shower, a 6 planet syzygy, the 6th heatwave of the summer, and a meningitis outbreak. I’m simply asking for fewer bad omens to be happening all at once. 040
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 11/08/2026When I was an undergraduate in the Philosophy department at the University of Edinburgh, I used to entertain the fantasy that I'd get a job at the University of Dundee some day. The job market being what it is, that was never going to happen. But the department is too important to let die. 010
Reposted by Kenneth NovisJustin Weinberg @dailynous.com · 11/08/2026The University of Dundee is announced plans to kill its philosophy major. The petition launched in protest has over 5300 signatures and the effort to fight the cuts has a new website.dailynous.comUpdate on Fight Against Dundee Cutting Philosophy - Daily NousEarlier this summer, the administration of the University of Dundee announced a plan to cut costs by, among other things, no longer offering students the option of majoring in philosophy. See this pre... 053
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 10/08/2026I've been spending some time looking into all of the early modern accusations of atheism towards Spinoza, and this is one of the most amusing sources I've encountered: a poem from 1710, casting Spinoza as an agent of Satan 140
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 09/08/2026Malebranche has this notion that all (representative) ideas are real beings, and that there are infinitely many of them. The real beings part looks a lot like Platonism to me, but I wonder whether Malebranche thinks there are representative ideas of differences (thinking of Deleuze a lot here). 130
Reposted by Kenneth NovisJon @thelitcritguy.bsky.social · 06/08/2026🏘️🏘️🏘️ Some very exciting news 🏘️🏘️🏘️ 1715726
Reposted by Kenneth NovisAnna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 01/04/2026"criticizing AI use in journalism or other creative industries is classist" NO IT IS NOT there is a class that benefits enormously from cognitive surrender, epistemic warfare, and the enclosure of all hitherto produced culture and it is NOT THE WORKING CLASS 252605821
Reposted by Kenneth NovisWorking Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 04/08/2026#OtD 4 Aug 1792 radical Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was born. His most famous poem, penned after the Peterloo massacre, ends: "Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number! Shake your chains to earth like dew... Ye are many—they are few!" workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e15-... 211541
Reposted by Kenneth Novisdominique routhier @routhier.bsky.social · 04/08/2026I contributed to this stellar issue with a review of Idris Robinson's new book, The Revolt... (and what it means to be trained to think abstractly about the problem of "violence" in analytical philosophy depts) www.radicalphilosophy.com/reviews/the-...radicalphilosophy.comDominique Routhier · The philosophy of revolt (2026) 1298
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 04/08/2026I spent all of last term learning early modern physics for a section of my thesis on what Spinoza means by 'power' (in a bunch of places, he says it's the same as 'force', which is huge for Cartesian physics). But having now written the rest of the chapter, I think I need to delete it all 🥲 170
Reposted by Kenneth NovisMorgan Golf-French @zenothankyou.bsky.social · 03/08/2026The left will turn one much-cherished natural fact into a social construct every day until our demands are met. Day 3: hair is a social construct 041
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Passing through the Gladstone Links is always so disorienting, but it’s worth it to avoid all of the tourists 020
Kenneth Novis @saditious.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Looking at the figures in early modern philosophy who have guides published on them, it's surprising to me that Malebranche is not better represented! I was always taught that he's one of the major early modern rationalists, but the work on him pales in comparison to Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz 220