Stanley Cavell Archives - Public Seminar

Philosophy

Teaching Skepticism in Kyiv and Nablus

Close attention can foster compassion and spur action

April 16, 2026 • by Peter Levine

In 2025, I gave lectures and classes in Kyiv, Ukraine, and at two Palestinian universities in the occupied West Bank. I have lived a tame life, and these were relatively intense experiences for me. As I had anticipated, Kyiv was heavily bombed while I visited, and I taught in a bomb shelter. ...

Remembering Philosopher Stanley Cavell

1926-2018

July 31, 2018 • by Laura Nelson

One of the persistent themes in the work of American philosopher Stanley Cavell (1926-2018) was that of voice -- both in the sense of having a distinctive voice of one’s own, and of giving voice to experiences and truths that may (or may not) have escaped notice. The voice that Cavell displayed throughout his career in ...

In Love’s Shadow

Reflections on love at the Night of Philosophy

March 31, 2018 • by Rossen Ventzislavov

In the title track from his album Station to Station, at the junction where the music resolutely picks up pace, David Bowie sings: “It’s not the side effects of the cocaine. I’m thinking that it must be love.” [1] In contrast to the accelerating beat, the lyric is riddled with irresolution. Is love ...