Public Philosophy Lectures Continue at University College

A series of free public philosophy lectures will be held at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham throughout the spring term. The free public lecture series has been organised by St Mary’s School of Theology, Philosophy and History in conjunction with the Royal Institute of Philosophy. The lectures will be led by leading academics in the field and will address the oversight of, and reflect on, the concept of dialogue in philosophy, academia and beyond. Dialogue is at the heart of philosophy and remains a vital means for philosophical engagement and even philosophical thought. Despite this, there remains insufficient understanding of its importance to philosophy, and its value for academia more broadly and beyond. Programme of Lectures: Wednesday 30th January – Prof Margaret Boden (University of Sussex) presents ‘Dialogues in Cognitive Science: Philosophy et al’. Prof Boden will discuss how much philosophy is, or rather should be, interdisciplinary. Wednesday 13th March – Prof Matthew Kieran (University of Leeds) presents ‘Creative Competition or Dialogue’. The lecture will explore competitive rivalry, which is often taken to be an inevitable part of the creative life and also spurs us on to learn and innovate. In forging a dialogue between the contrasting perspectives offered by philosophy and psychology, we will examine whether or not envy is a price to be paid for lives devoted to creative innovation. Wednesday 17th April – Dr Barry Dixon (University of Cambridge) presents ‘Plato and the Rules of Dialogue’. Dr Dixon will explore some of the ‘rules’ of Platonic dialect, which he believes are offered to us by Plato through the verbal perambulations of his protagonist, Socrates. All lectures are free and open to the public without prior registration, and suitable for a non-specialist audience. Lectures start at 5.15pm at St Mary’s Strawberry Hill campus. For more information please contact Dr Yasemin J Erden on erdenyj@stmarys.ac.uk