A philosophy conference honoring the 40-year career of Professor Emeritus Ron Santoni, who retired from Denison University's philosophy department last spring, is set for Friday and Saturday (Oct. 4 & 5). Several outstanding philosophers will present papers at "Philosophy, Freedom and Action." Denison philosophy department graduates, who now also are college faculty members, will serve as respondents.

The conference opens with registration at 3 p.m. on Friday in the Slayter Hall faculty lounge. Professor Thomas Flynn, Emory University, will present the first paper, "Sartre at One Hundred: A Man of the 19th Century Trying to Think the 21st," at 4 p.m. with Gail Weiss '81, now a faculty member at George Washington University, as respondent. A dinner for invited guests follows at 6:30 p.m. where Professor David Sprintzen of C.W. Post College at Long Island University will speak on "Reflections on Ron Santoni."

On Saturday, coffee will be served at 8:30 a.m. in the Slayter Hall Faculty Lounge. Professor Stephen Holmes '69, now on the faculty of New York University, speaks at 9 a.m. in the Slayter Auditorium. His topic is "Liberalism in the Mirror of Transnational Terror." Hugh Wilder '68, teaching at the College of Charleston, is the respondent. Professor Karsten Harries, Yale University, will speak at 10:45 a.m. on "Sartre and the Spirit of Revenge" with Daniel Tate '75, St. Bonaventure University, as respondent.

Professor Emeritus Ronald Santoni, who was named holder of the Maria Theresa Barney Chair of Philosophy in 1978, will speak at the luncheon for invited guests. A film, "An Unfinished Symphony," by Bestor Cram and Penny Hauser-Cram, Boston College, will be the last offering on the program at 2:30 p.m. Closing remarks will follow at 4 p.m.

An organizer of the group Concerned Philosophers for Peace in the early 1980s, Santoni served as its president during the1996/97 year. He also hosted the eighth biennial conference of the Sartre Society of North America at Denison the summer of 1996. During that conference, his book,Bad Faith, Good Faith, and Authenticity in Sartre's Early Philosophy, was the subject of a "book in review" session.

Santoni earned his bachelor's degree at Bishop's University, Canada, his master's from Brown University and his doctorate at Boston University. He has been a fellow at the University of Paris (Sorbonne) and at Yale University and also has served as a visiting scholar and visiting lecturer at the University of Cambridge, England. He is a Life Member at Clare Hall, Cambridge, where he also was a visiting fellow. A world-renowned scholar on the philosophy of Jean Paul Sartre, his biography is listed in the Directory of American Scholars, Contemporary Authors, Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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