November 20th, 2008, is World Philosophy Day, an annual celebration initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This year, in Palermo, Italy, a set of philosophers will gather for talks under the theme “Rights and Power”, and with titles like “Human dignity, civil community and public authority”, “From the Mediterranean to the Pacific: new spaces of power and cradles of civilization”, and “Sciences and Power”. There will also be a symposium, “Psychoanalysis, Rights, Knowledge”, in Paris, France. The symposium will consist of conferences and debates on the significance of the “recognition or non-recognition of the ‘human being’ announced in the Universal Declaration for Human Rights”. This is all very esoteric, I know, but it could also be increadibly illuminating. So, if you have the time, share in the celebration and flex your theoretical mind.