Lyceum: The Fractured Self: The Normal, the Exceptional, and the Pathological in William James

Name: Lyceum: The Fractured Self: The Normal, the Exceptional, and the Pathological in William James
Start: 2026-04-17T17:00:00-05:00
Location: MTSU College of Education, Room 164, Murfreesboro TN

Schedule

Fri, 17 Apr, 2026 at 05:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

MTSU College of Education, Room 164, Murfreesboro TN | Murfreesboro, TN

Note: The spring Lyceum previously scheduled for March 20 will now occur on April 24 (one week following this event).
We are happy to host Professor Alexis Dianda for a spring lecture, entitled, The Fractured Self: “The Normal, the Exceptional, and the Pathological in William James.”
Dr. Dianda is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Xavier University. She received her PhD from The New School for Social Research and is the author of The Varieties of Experience: William James After the Linguistic Turn (Harvard, 2023) and William James and the Promise of Experience (Harvard, forthcoming). Professor Dianda’s teaching interests include American philosophy, feminist theory, and nineteenth- and twentieth-century continental philosophy.
William James’ encounter with “abnormal” forms of subjectivity were central to his understanding of the self as divided, plural, and permeable. Drawing on his work in psychology and religion, Dr. Dianda shows how his analyses of the pathological provide a framework for understanding identity formation and moral growth. She argues that the permeability of the self that is revealed in cases of insanity, hypnotism, conversion, and neuroses illuminates the ordinary dynamics of moral growth that that are central to James’ pragmatism.
The Lecture is free and open to the public and will include a question-and-answer period. An informal reception will follow at the home of Professor Michael Principe.