Date/Time
Date(s) - 19 Jan 2017
5:45 PM - 8:30 PM
Location
Columbia University Faculty House
Category(ies) No Categories
Thursday, January 19, 7:30pm
James Zetzel (Columbia University)
“Natural Law and Natural Language in the First Century BCE”
Faculty House (please check the signs in the lobby for precise location)
Prof. Zetzel kindly shared an abstract of his upcoming talk with us:
“The claim that a given form of behavior or institution or product is natural is powerful, but although rhetorically effective, it is substantively opaque. In the first century BCE in Rome, claims of this kind are extremely common, particularly as sources for legitimation of various aspects of language and social order; the purpose of this paper is to examine the variety of appeals to “nature,” particularly in Varro and Cicero, and to place them in their political and social context. The question, I will suggest, is not what “natural” means, but what it means to claim that something is natural.”
The evening will begin with drinks at 5:45 PM at the first floor lounge of Faculty House, followed by dinner at 6:15 PM. Please email our rapporteur, Jeremy Simmons ([email protected]) by noon on Monday, January 16th, in order to make a dinner reservation. Note that the price of the meal is $30, payable only by check to “Columbia University.”
Professor Zetzel’s lecture will begin promptly at 7:30 PM.