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Notes from a Conference in Moscow

The Moscow Times:

A debate between philosophers at an international forum ended in a fistfight Monday that left two people slightly injured, Interfax reported.

A woman and man were injured in the fight at the International Philosophical Forum, held in the House of Scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences on Ulitsa Prechistenka.

One suffered a bruise, while the other one was left with a scratched face, a police source told Interfax, without elaborating. It was not immediately clear what prompted the fight. Several squads of police officers were called to restore order.

Readers are welcome to offer their theories about what might have prompted the fight.

*******************

Update, from Russia Today:

[T]he fight had little to do with arguments over the meaning of life. The incident’s instigator turned out to be a former Moscow State University student, who was withdrawn from the Philosophy Department a couple of years ago.

A witness told Interfax that the man attacked the Philosophical Department dean, Vladimir Mironov, during a scientific conference.

He had earlier tried to break into the Philosophy Department office and “argue” with Mironov, the same source said. The source did not elaborate on the reason behind the man’s vitriol towards his former dean.

Margaret Soltan, November 16, 2009 4:51PM
Posted in: intellectuals

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10 Responses to “Notes from a Conference in Moscow”

  1. Dave Stone Says:

    Heidegger-schmeidegger,
    Most philosophical
    Disputes are ended
    By logic, alas.

    Muscovite thinkers work
    Less syllogistically,
    Argument one being
    Kicking your ass.

  2. Brett Says:

    "Authorities said the scuffle was won by the Cartesian representative, who thought himself able to float like a butterfly *and* sting like a bee, and therefore could do so."

  3. RJO Says:

    They had probably gotten into an argument about the outcome of that afternoon’s soccer match.

  4. Dave Stone Says:

    Husserl-Tusserl,
    Backers of Nietzsche say
    "If we don’t kill you then
    Stronger you’ll be.

    When we get through with you
    So metafistically
    You will then bench-press two
    Hundred and three."

  5. Margaret Soltan Says:

    The guy on Dimitri Pisarev
    Was using up time for Likhachev.
    The expert on Lossky
    Was being a bossky
    Which pissed off the guy on Leontiev.

  6. Margaret Soltan Says:

    RJO: I thought I’d seen them all. What a beaut. Thanks.

  7. Dave Stone Says:

    The first step is admitting I have a problem . . .

    David Hume had a girlfriend Rosa,
    Who was pinched on the ass by Spinoza.
    Dave said "Listen, Baruch,
    Now put up your dukes.
    You’re about to get punched in the nosa."

  8. Joe Fruscione Says:

    Perhaps they all wanted to be the first one to respond to the frantic call, "Is there a Doctor of Philosophy in the house?"

  9. Jeremy Bangs Says:

    This Pythonism is perhaps too well known.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5fGSBsfq8

    The story reminds me, however, of a slightly related situation at the University of Chicago in the ’60s.

    When I was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, I played occasionally on the football team of the house where I lived (a kind of dormitory). The university prided itself on having gotten rid of inter-collegiate athletic contests some time in the 1930s, so everything was intra-mural, between teams from different residence halls or houses. Ours was called the Flying Bolsheviks, and we had one or two more players than the usual American set for a team. We didn’t tell our opponents about our extras, just had them stand on the sidelines and unobtrusively enter the field when a large conflict came near. Instead of the usual full-back, half-back, quarter-back and whatever else was usual, our team had two rather large and muscled fellows called Means, while all the other members were known as Ends, whose job was to justify the Means.

    This being the period of anti-Vietnam war protests, the FBI sent photographers to record who the Marxists were.

  10. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Jeremy: Means and Ends– LOL.

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