Antonia Hofst\u00e4tter has written to us to let us know about an upcoming symposium on ‘Adorno’s “Sexual Taboos and Law Today”\u2013 Sixty Years On’, which will be held at the University of Warwick and on Zoom on February 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Symposium on Adorno\u2019s \u2018Sexual Taboos and Law Today\u2019 \u2013 Sixty Years On<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Saturday, 25 February 2023, University of Warwick, UK<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The event will also be streamed online. Registration required.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Webpage: https:\/\/warwick.ac.uk\/fac\/soc\/philosophy\/news\/conference\/adorno\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018It\u2019s a nice bit of sexual utopia not to be yourself. [\u2026] What is merely identical with itself is without happiness.\u2019<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Programme:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n 10.00\u201310.30 Registration and coffee <\/p>\n\n\n\n 10.30\u201310.45 Introduction by the organisers (Antonia Hofst\u00e4tter & Simon Gansinger) <\/p>\n\n\n\n 10.45\u201312.15 Panel 1: Sex and Taboo<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n 12.15\u201313.30 Lunch <\/p>\n\n\n\n 13.30\u201315.00 Panel 2: Sex and Society<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n 15.00\u201315.15 Coffee <\/p>\n\n\n\n 15.15\u201316.45 Panel 3: Sex and Crime<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n 16.45\u201317.00 Coffee <\/p>\n\n\n\n 17.00\u201318.00 Roundtable with all speakers <\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n 19.00\u201322.00 Dinner <\/p>\n\n\n\n Description:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n First published in 1963, Theodor W. Adorno\u2019s essay \u2018Sexual Taboos and Law Today\u2019 responded to changing attitudes to love and desire during a period of sexual liberation. Critiquing repressive bourgeois morality and progressive sexual values alike, \u2018Sexual Taboos and Law Today\u2019 suggests that the utopian potential of intimacy is inseparable from the challenges sexuality poses to self and society. The essay\u2019s most famous line \u2013 \u2018It is a nice bit of sexual utopia not to be yourself\u2019 \u2013 already locates the promise of sexuality in the momentary dissolution of identity. It meets with Adorno\u2019s claim that without its anarchical and transgressive aspects sexuality becomes neutralised and inert. Yet, these aspects evoke society’s contempt: \u2018What is specifically sexual is eo ipso<\/em> forbidden,\u2019 Adorno writes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Sexual Taboos and Law Today\u2019 sheds light on the dynamics of desire and disdain, freedom and punishment, losing oneself and finding oneself that characterise the \u2018brittle integration\u2019 of sexuality into modern society. Ultimately, these dynamics destabilise the sphere of law and morality, and problematise modern conceptions of subjectivity and identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, in times of #MeToo, identity politics, and heightened public concern for gender equality and transgender rights, \u2018Sexual Taboos and Law Today\u2019 invites renewed scrutiny. This one-day symposium explores the tensions that Adorno\u2019s text brings to the fore in the sphere of legal theory, social critique, psychoanalysis, and philosophy. Making these tensions fruitful for the present moment is the overarching aim of this event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This event has been organised with the generous support of the Department of Philosophy and the Humanities Research Centre at the University of Warwick, the Aristotelian Society, the Society for Applied Philosophy, and the British Society for the History of Philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Details:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Please follow this link to register for the event (attendance in person or via Zoom):<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.eventbrite.co.uk\/e\/485669930837<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Please note that participants intending to attend the event in person will be required to leave a \u00a35 deposit when registering. \u00a34.09 of your deposit will be returned to you when you attend the event in person (an administrative fee of \u00a30.91 will be kept by Eventbrite). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lunch, coffee, and snacks will be provided<\/strong>. Please indicate on the registration form whether you would like to attend the conference dinner at your own expense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have any questions about the event, please contact the organisers at antonia.hofstatter@warwick.ac.uk<\/a> <\/strong>or simon.gansinger@warwick.ac.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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