2012 Conference Proceedings: ‘New Ages, New Opinions’: Shaftesbury in his World and Today

Interest in Shaftesbury is as lively and productive today as it ever was. Indeed, the past decade has seen a veritable international renaissance in studies of his work. The various theoretical approaches of which modern critics and scholars can avail themselves are reflected in the different new interpretations we now have of Shaftesbury. This collection of essays manifests this diversity, offering a representative miscellany which covers the whole range of Shaftesbury’s own intellectual interests and which includes re-evaluations of his ethics, aesthetics, politics, religion, and literary criticism, as well as examinations of the reception of his works.

 

Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury — Prefatory Address, p. 15

Patrick Müller, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg — Introduction: Reading Shaftesbury in the Twenty-First Century, pp. 17-23

Art and Aesthetics

Karl Axelsson, Uppsala Universitet — A Realised Disposition: Shaftesbury on the Natural Affections and Taste, pp. 27-44.

Mark-Georg Dehrmann, Leibniz Universität Hannover — Transition: “Pedagogy of the Eye” in Shaftesbury’s Second Characters, pp. 45-60.

Andrea Gatti, Universitá degli Studi di Ferrara — The Aesthetic Mind: Stoic Influences on Shaftesbury’s Theory of Beauty, pp. 61-76.

Yu Liu, Niagara County Community College (NY) — The Surprising Passion for Wild Nature: The True Innovation of Shaftesbury’s Aesthetics, pp. 77-92.

Suzannah Fleming, London — The third Earl of Shaftesbury: Practical Gardener and Husbandman, pp. 93-113.

James Pratt, York University (ON) — Shaftesbury and Gribelin: Anatomy of a Collaboration, pp. 115-30.

Isabella Woldt, Universität Hamburg — Hercules at the Crossroads and Political Iconography: Shaftesbury’s Concept of Freedom, Neuroscience, and Compatibilism, pp. 131-49.

Moral and Political Philosophy

Laurent Jaffro, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne — Cyrus’ Strategy: Shaftesbury on Human Frailty and the Will, pp. 153-65.

Michael B. Gill, University of Arizona, Tucson — Shaftesbury on Politeness, Honesty, and Virtue, pp. 167-83.

Angela Taraborrelli, Sapienza-Universitá, Rome — The Cosmopolitanism of Lord Shaftesbury, pp. 185-200.

Shaftesbury in his Time

Daniel Carey, National University of Ireland, Galway — Shaftesbury, Bayle, and Common Consent, pp. 203-21.

Karen Collis, University of Oxford — “The advancement of all antient and polite Learning”: Education and Criticism in Characteristicks, pp. 223-38.

Patrick Müller, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg — “The able Designer, who feigns in behalf of Truth”: Shaftesbury’s Philosophical Poetics, pp. 239-58.

Reception

Lori Branch, University of Iowa, Iowa City — Between Suspicion and Enchantment: Reading Shaftesbury’s Private Writings, pp. 261-76.

Luisa Simonutti, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Milano — Dissidents and Réfugiés Readers of Shaftesbury, pp. 277-90.

Paola Zanardi, Universitá degli Studi di Ferrara — “Elegance” and “sublimity”: The Influence of Shaftesbury on Hume’s Essays, pp. 291-302.

Lawrence E. Klein, University of Cambridge — Reading Shaftesbury in the Eighteenth Century, pp. 303-21.