Nov 14 – Philosophers’ Jam
Do you enjoy thinking about what others say as much as they enjoy arguing their own views?
The Langara College Department of Philosophy invites you to attend Philosophers’ Jam, a forum for the expression of provocative ideas. This dialogue series is intended for people who want to discuss ideas but whose busy lives prevent them from signing up for a credit course.
Philosophers’ Jams are free and open to all Langara faculty, staff, and students, as well as anyone in the Vancouver community. Bring a friend or colleague and see you at the next Jam session!
Striving, Entropy, and Meaning
John Russell
Striving was a central feature of the metaphysics of antiquity through the Renaissance after which it gave way to modern scientific accounts of nature and Darwinian accounts of biology. A casualty of this metaphysical shift is that human psychological striving has been overlooked by philosophy and psychology in favour of supposedly more elemental mental phenomenon like desire, reason, choice, and motivation. This discussion will put forth an account of human striving in the context of modern science and argue that it is something of principal value in human lives – a cardinal human virtue and a source of a sense of dignity.
John Russell, is an instructor and former chair in the department of philosophy at Langara College. He has published extensively on questions related to sport and values and is winner of the Warren P. Fraleigh Distinguished Scholar Award for Philosophy of Sport. He is also the inaugural winner of the Langara Scholarly Excellence Award.
Thursday, Nov 14
7:00 pm–9:00 pm
A Building, Employee Lounge
Learn more.
www.langara.ca/philosophers-jam
Katharine Browne
Coordinator, Philosophers’ Jam
kbrowne@langara.ca
