2023 Anderson Fellows Philosophy Lecture: “Love, death and the meaning of life”
Anderson Fellows Lecture: Love, death and the meaning of life.
Dr Sam Shpall, Natalja Deng, Luke Russell | 17 October, 5:00pm doors for 5:30pm start
Einstein tried to console the parents of a close friend who had passed away by pointing out that according to the view of time provided by physics, the distinction between past, present, and future is nothing but a stubbornly persistent illusion. Meanwhile, some philosophers have argued that meaningfulness depends on life’s temporal finitude.
Can the physics or philosophy of time help us make sense of our own and other people’s mortality? Can the ways we create meaning in life inform our experience of time in turn? What is meaningfulness, anyway? Loving relationships and friendships are often said to be essential to it. But love is also quite puzzling from a philosophical perspective. Is it an emotion, or something else? Is it inherently irrational? And which kinds of things and entities are worthy of it in the first place?
Anderson Fellowships are bestowed through a bequest of the estate of John Anderson (1893-1962), an influential Australian philosopher and Challis Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney from 1927 to 1958. They fund travel to the University of Sydney for up to two distinguished fellows in philosophy each year with the aim of promoting collaboration between members of the philosophy department and leading researchers around the world.
About the speakers:
Dr Sam Shpall is Senior Lecturer in Ethics at Usyd. He writes and teaches about sex, gender, love, friendship, art, and the meaning of life.
Natalja Deng is Associate Professor of Philosophy at a liberal arts college within Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. She writes about things like time (both physical and experiential), death, and religion.
Luke Russell is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sydney, where he teaches ethics and critical thinking. Luke works on moral philosophy, specialising in issues related to evil, forgiveness, virtue, and vice. His recent publications include the books Evil: A Very Short Introduction (2022) and Real Forgiveness (2023), both published by Oxford University Press.
VENUE
To be held on Campus at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. All welcome. Please click here for CCW map.
Image courtesy of Unsplash
More information
Please join us after the Lecture at Sounds Café at the Museum.
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