The Philosophers’ Camp: Grandly Simple

In 1858, 10 scholars left New England society for a sojourn in the Adirondacks. Seeking to immerse themselves in the natural environment, they hunted, rowed, fished and camped. Participant Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a poem to commemorate the excursion, dubbing participants “freemen of the forest laws;” they were free of societal and professional boundaries. Thus liberated, they fell naturally into a crossdisciplinary cadence reflecting the style of unity between self, other and world that has come to characterize the Philosophers’ Camp and mark its intellectual significance. Our annual revitalization of the Philosophers’ Camp draws on the traditions established during the original expedition. Our readings and conversations will be an opportunity to enter into the spirit of the original Philosophers’ Camp by engaging in shared inquiry and discovery.

Seminar discussion will be led by Marianne Patinelli-Dubay and Bill Vitek.

SUNY ESF’s Northern Forest Institute program in Environmental Philosophy, led by Dr. Marianne Patinelli-Dubay, supports and facilitates rich conversations across a range of disciplines. The program’s educational initiatives bridge humanities content with field experience to help participants understand the impacts of the relationship between scientific research and the policy it advances.

Bill Vitek is professor of philosophy and chair of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. With Wes Jackson he co-edited Rooted in the Land and The Virtues of Ignorance. Bill is working on a book of his own inspired by his philosophical-agricultural
collaboration with Jackson titled The Perennial Imagination: Hardwired for Eternity. He is a founding project team-member of The Land Institute’s Ecosphere Studies program and directs the New Perennials Project, housed at The Rockefeller Family Fund.

The registration rate of $750 per participant includes accommodations, catered meals and receptions, advance reading materials, guided seminars and hikes, as well as time to enjoy unparalleled access to the largest protected wild landscape in the lower 48 states. For additional information visit http://www.esf.edu/nfi/documents/PhiloCamp2018.pdf. To register, contact newcomb@esf.edu or call 518.582.4551 ext 109.