Aphorism

THE WORLD IN A PHRASE: PHILOSOPHY AND THE APHORISM

On Friday 14 March the Institute will host, together with Goodenough College, a major international conference on philosophy and the aphorism.
doc version of this page and abstracts
Full registration

LOCATION
Great Hall, London House, Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square WC1

BRIEF DESCRIPTION
The aphorism - a world of thought compacted into a single phrase - is the oldest written form of literature on the planet. The aphorism is also the oldest form of philosophical writing, dating back to the earliest moral and cosmological musings of the ancient Egyptians and Chinese.  Yet there remains no manner of thinking better suited to contemporary times - and this one-day symposium will explore why.  Poets, professors, artists, philosophers, psychologists and comedians (and aphorists!) from Europe and the U.S. will gather to discuss and celebrate the aphorism as a privileged vehicle for grappling with the deepest questions facing our world - and will show how the aphorism is just the ticket if you are tired of ideologies but haven't given up on truth.

PROGRAMME

10:00 - 11:30 What Is an Aphorism?

The aphoristic
Stephen Clucas, Senior Lecturer in English and Humanities, Birkbeck, University of London

Teaching the art of writing aphorisms
Sara Levine, Associate Professor, MFA in Writing Program, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

The aphorism as philosophy
Simon May, College Research Fellow in Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London; author of The Little Book of Big Thoughts

The aphorism as truth-vehicle - its successes and failures
Roger Scruton, author, philosopher, and research professor for the Institute for the Psychological Sciences


11:45 - 1:15 International Perspectives

German aphorisms
Friedemann Spicker, co-founder of the German Aphorism Convention and the German Aphorism Archive
&
Jurgen Wilbert, author, aphorist and co-founder of the German Aphorism Convention and the German Aphorism Archive

Aphorisms in French
Philippe Moret, author of Tradition et modernite l'aphorisme

Finnish aphorisms
Sami Feiring, chairman of the Aphorism Association of Finland

Serbian satirical political aphorisms
Boris Mitic, Serbian documentary filmmaker, director of a film about the Belgrade Aphoristic Circle, from which he will show a trailer


1:15 - 2:30 Lunch (own arrangements)


2:30 - 4:00 Aphorisms: Practitioners' Perspectives

Don Paterson, Scottish poet and aphorist

James Richardson, American poet, aphorist, and Professor of English and Creative Writing, Princeton University

Fulvio Fiori, Italian author, playwright and aphorist

Bert Hellinger, German psychologist and aphorist


4:15 - 5:45 Aphorisms: Personal Perspectives

James Geary: How aphorisms can change your life
Author of The World in a Phrase: A Brief History of the Aphorism and Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists

A.C. Grayling: Topic to be confirmed
Author and professor of philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London

John Lloyd: Aphorisms and jokes
British TV comedy producer (Not the Nine O'clock News, Spitting Image, Blackadder, QI)

REGISTRATION

Admission is £20 for the whole day including teas.
Please complete and send back the following registration form or contact with 'Aphorism Registration' in the subject header.