I am apt to suspect the negroes to be naturally inferior to the whites. There scarcely ever was a civilized nation of that complexion\, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation.
\nSo wrote David Hume\, central representative of 18th \;Century Enlightenment. We immediately think 'racism' and miss considering the origins of our modern notions of \;race \;and indeed of \;humanity \;as such. Arguably the 18th \;century was the age of the discovery\, or construction\, of 'man' out of the European encounter with these new creatures in Africa\, in America\, etc. &ndash\; human\, or animal?
\nThe \;Department of Philosophy\, with the generous support of the \;Spencer-Leavitt Fund\, is pleased to announce a two-day \;Colloquium on Race and the Enlightenment \;consisting of two panel discussions by leading theorists of the history of the idea of race. The Colloquium will take place \;May 14 &ndash\; May 15 \;on the Union College campus. Our guests are:
\nPanel #1
\nMay 14th
\nRobert Bernasconi (Penn State University)
\nKolb as Source for Buffon\, Rousseau and Kant
\nCharles W. Mills (Northwestern University)
\nKant and Race Redux
\nPanel #2
\nMay 15th
\nAndrew Curran (Wesleyan University)
\nBuffon and Proto-Raciology
\nBernard Boxill (UNC Chapell Hill)
\nSympathy\, Resemblance and Race in the Enlightenment
\nKames and Hume versus Buffon and Rousseau
\nAll inquiries should go to Felmon Davis (davisf [at] \;union.edu)
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