* * * * For information on the 2010 meeting of the Southwest Seminar, please click here. * * * *

Southwest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy

28 February – 1 March 2009
California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA

Featuring Invited Speaker:
Daniel Garber
Princeton University

The fourth annual meeting of the Southwest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy will be held 28 February – 1 March 2009 at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA. Following the model of similar seminars around the U.S. and Canada, the Southwest Seminar was formed to foster interaction among scholars who work on various topics in the history of early modern philosophy (a period ranging, roughly, from Montaigne to Kant).

Program	Abstracts (pdf)
Printable program (pdf)	Travel and Lodging
Contact Information

Program

We are pleased to announce the program for the fourth annual meeting of the Southwest Seminar.

Saturday 28 February
9-9:30am	CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
9:30-11am	“The Challenging Patient: Medicine in the Correspondence between Descartes and Princess Elisabeth” Susan Mills, Grant MacEwan College
11:15am-12:25pm	“Malebranche on Knowing One’s Own Mind” Matthew Shockey, Indiana University - South Bend
12:30-1:30pm	LUNCH
1:30-2:40pm	“Hume on Continence and Virtue” Kate Abramson, Indiana University
2:45-3:55pm	“Explanation, Newtonianism, and the Way of Ideas: Philosophical Method in the Scottish Enlightenment” Ryan Nichols, University of Kansas
4-4:30pm	COFFEE BREAK
4:30-5:40pm	“Leibniz, Body and Monad” Daniel Garber, Princeton University
6-9:30pm	Conference Dinner at Saladang Song Address: 363 S Fair Oaks Ave; Phone: 626-793-5200 Please RSVP to Gideon Manning if you wish to attend.
Sunday 1 March
9-9:30am	CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
9:30-10:40am	“Locke’s Familiar Substratum” Robert Pasnau, University of Colorado – Boulder
10:45-11:55am	“Inherence-Causation-Conceivability in Spinoza, or On the Delicate Art of Bullet-Biting” Yitzhak Melamed, Johns Hopkins University
Unless otherwise noted, all Seminar events will take place in the Treasury Room in Dabney Hall (4C on the Caltech campus map).

REGISTRATION

There is no registration fee for the Southwest Seminar, though we do ask that those who plan on attending to please contact the local organizer, Gideon Manning (gmax@hss.caltech.edu), no later than 10 February. Please indicate which days you plan to be in attendance. If you are interested in attending the conference dinner on Saturday, we suggest contacting Gideon as soon as possible, since space at this event is limited.

TRAVEL AND LODGING INFORMATION

GENERAL TRAVEL INFORMATION

For those participants flying into Southern California, there are three airports that are close to Caltech: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Burbank Airport (BUR), and Ontario Airport (ONT). From any one of these airports, you can arrange rides to the Caltech campus with SuperShuttle. Their roundtrip fare from LAX and Burbank to campus is roughly $55, and the roundtrip fare from Ontario to campus is roughly $100. You can refer to the Caltech Visitor’s Guide for driving information on getting from these airports to the Caltech campus.

LODGING INFORMATION

We have secured a special rate of $160/night for conference participants at The Athenaeum, which is the Caltech Faculty Club.  Free internet and a gym pass are included in the cost of a room. To place a reservation, call (626) 395-8200 and mention that you are part of the Southwest Seminar group. You will need to secure your reservation with a credit card.

Participants may also stay at either the Hilton ($158/night) or Sheraton ($164/night) near campus at the discounted Caltech rate. There is also a Comfort Inn roughly 1.5 miles from Caltech, which offers rooms at a standard rate of $90/night.

Please note that while lodging costs are somewhat high in Pasadena, participants will not have to pay for any meals on Saturday or breakfast and lunch on Sunday. Caltech is very kindly covering these expenses.

TALK ON FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY

On Friday 27 February at 4pm, Daniel Garber will be presenting “Remarks on the Pre-History of the Mechanical Philosophy.” The talk will take place at the Einstein Papers Project (E3 on the Caltech campus map), and all Seminar participants are invited to attend. A dinner will follow the talk (starting around 6pm) at Celestino’s, an Italian Restaurant at 141 S Lake Ave. Space at this dinner is limited, so please RSVP to Gideon Manning as soon as possible if you would like to attend.

CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have any questions about the 2009 meeting of the Southwest Seminar, feel free to contact the local organizer, Gideon Manning (gmax@hss.caltech.edu), or either one of the general organizers, Donald Rutherford (drutherford@ucsd.edu) or Mary Domski (mdomski@unm.edu).