Department of Philosophy
Werkmeister Conference: On the Origin of Species
(Sponsored by the William H. and Lucyle T. Werkmeister Endowment Fund)
March 23-24, 2007
Conference Theme:
150 Years on the Origin of Species
The Origin of Species by the English naturalist Charles Darwin is one of the most important scientific books ever written. First published in 1859, its 150th anniversary will be in 2009, the year in which we will also celebrate the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth. This year's Werkmeister Conference on the Origin of Species will lay the foundation for the Cambridge Companion to the Origin of Species, to be edited by Robert J. Richards and Michael Ruse. Participants will be presenting first drafts of the papers to be included in the Companion, and this is reflected not only in the excellence and qualifications of the participants, but also in the broad scope of the material, looking in detail at all parts of the Origin, as well as at pertinent external questions from rhetoric to religion and on to the very nature of the various editions of the great work.
Presenters:
Naomi Beck (University of Chicago)
Gillian Beer (University of Cambridge)
Peter J. Bowler (The Queen’s University Belfast, U.K.)
John Brooke (University of Oxford)
David Depew (The University of Iowa)
Sandra Herbert (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
Chris and Michèle Kohler (C.C. Kohler, Antiquarian Booksellers)
David Kohn (AMNH Research Library, American Museum of Natural History)
Mark Largent (James Madison College at Michigan State University)
Tim Lewens (University of Cambridge)
Abigail Lustig (University of Texas-Austin)
David Norman (University of Cambridge)
Lynn Nyhart (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Robert Olby (University of Pittsburgh)
Robert Richards (University of Chicago)
Michael Ruse (Florida State University)
Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis (University of Florida)
Peter Stevens (University of Missouri-St. Louis)
Program
Friday, March 23rd (Room 009, Diffenbaugh)
Session I (8:30 am - 12:30 pm)
Michael Ruse, "The Origin of The Origin"
Mark Largent, "Artificial Selection in The Origin"
Robert J. Richards, "Darwin's Developing Conception of Natural Selection"
David Kohn, "Divergence: Darwin Shoots the Moon?"
Lunch (12:30 pm - 1:30 pm)
Session II (1:30 pm - 6:30 pm)
Robert Olby, "Darwin on Variation and Inheritance"
Abigail Lustig, "Instinct"
Peter J. Bowler, "Geographical Distribution in The Origin of Species"
Sandra Herbert and David Norman, "Darwin's Geology and His Perspective on the Fossibl Record"
Peter Stevens, "Systematics"
Saturday, March 24th (Devoe L. Moore Center, Room 150, Bellamy)
Session III (9:00 am - 12:00 pm)
Lynn Nyhart, "Embryology and Morphology"
Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis, "Botany in Darwin's Origin"
Tim Lewens, "Darwin and Philosophy"
Lunch (12:00 pm - 1:00 pm)
Session IV (1:00 pm - 6:00 pm)
Naomi Beck, "The Origin and Political Thought (from Right Wing to Marxism)"
John Brooke, "Laws impressed on Matter by the Creator? The Origin and the Question of Religion"
Gillian Beer, "Lineal Descendants: The Origin's Literary Progeny"
Chris and Michèle Kohler, "The Origin as a Book"
David Depew, "Language of The Origin"
Contact Information:
For additional information, please contact the organizer, Professor Michael Ruse (mruse@mailer.fsu.edu or 850-644-4128), or his program assistant, Sarah Fisk (sfisk@mailer.fsu.edu or 850-644-7248).