Steven Nadler to Replace Martha Nussbaum at St. Norbert College's Killeen Lecture Series

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From St. Norbert College, October 11, 2019
by Hailey Barron, hailey.barron@snc.edu, (920) 403-3089

St. Norbert College will welcome Steven Nadler, William H. Hay II Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as part of its four-part Killeen Chair of Theology & Philosophy Lecture Series on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. Nadler will replace Martha Nussbaum, who had to cancel her Oct. 22 lecture because of health reasons. The lecture will take place in the Fort Howard Theater of the F. K. Bemis International Center on the college’s campus. It is free and open to the public.

As the second guest of the 2019-20 Killeen Chair Lecture Series, which focuses on civic responsibility in times of polarization, Nadler will present the lecture “Spinoza, Toleration and the First Amendment.” By considering the details of Baruch Spinoza’s account of toleration and by contrasting his account with the freedoms granted by the First Amendment, Nadler will seek to clarify several important issues concerning toleration: What should be tolerated, by whom, for whose sake and to what extent?

Nadler’s research focuses on philosophy in the 17th century. He has written extensively on Cartesianism, Descartes, Spinoza and Gottfried Leibniz. His most recent monographs include “A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza’s Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age,” “The Philosopher, the Priest, and the Painter: A Portrait of Descartes,” and “Think Least of All of Death.” Nadler recently served as editor of the Journal of the History of Philosophy. He currently serves as the director of UW-Madison’s Institute for Research in the Humanities.

Established in 1984, the Killeen Chair of Theology & Philosophy stresses the importance of theology and philosophy in a Catholic liberal arts education, highlighting the commitment of St. Norbert College to provide an education that is personally, intellectually and spiritually challenging. Named after Abbot Sylvester Michael Killeen, O.Praem., chancellor of the college from 1967 to 1970, the Killeen Chair provides a fuller understanding of theological and philosophical issues by bringing scholars to campus in fields ranging from biology and psychology to economics and political science.

For more information, visit https://www.snc.edu/killeen or contact Luke Chevalier at 920-403-3932 or luke.chevalier@snc.edu.