To ensure maximum engagement, contribution, and discussion we hope that all participants will read both Melville's "Bartelby the Scrivener" and Descartes's Meditations prior to the conference.
We are using:
The Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy edition of Descartes's Meditations on First Philosophy, edited by John Cottingham.
The Signet Classic edition of Melville's Billy Budd and Other Tales.
Versions of both texts are available on-line througfh the following links:
The Philosophy and Literature conference is made by possible by generous support from the Raymond E. Baldwin Lecture Fund and a Mellon Workshop Grant, as well from the College of Letters, and the departments of English, German Studies, Philosophy, and Romance Languages and Literatures at Wesleyan University.
Baldwin Lecture Endowment 
The Baldwin Lecture endowment is named in honor of Raymond E. Baldwin '16, the only person to have held Connecticut's three highest public offices: governor, U.S. Senator, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Baldwin Lecture fund is designed to bring to the Wesleyan campus nationally and internationally known figures in public affairs for formal and informal exchanges with members of the Wesleyan community.
Mellon Workshop Grant
The Mellon Foundation grant to Amherst, Grinnell, Oberlin, Pomona, Reed, Smith, Wesleyan, and Williams provides funds to support workshops designed and organized by faculty members on scholarly and pedagogical topics.
