In this first installment of our new “How Did We Get Here?” series led by philosopher & student scholar fellow Julianna Breit we’ll consider the concept of empathy. We’ll start in the 16th century with David Hume and explore onward. By tracing the evolution of empathy, we’ll learn how each thinker contributes to our understanding […]
This workshop led by philosopher David Nowakowski will explore the role of myth within philosophy, the life dedicated to the pursuit of wisdom. Taking Plato as our starting point, this workshop will explore the role of myth within philosophy, the life dedicated to the pursuit of wisdom. We’ll get clear how myths comprise a special […]
“Anyone writing about empathy is trying to hit a moving target,” said empathy scholar, Lou Agosta – highlighting the term’s confusion in both common conversation and academic literature. When we are talking about empathy, what exactly are we talking about – shared feelings, care for someone else, or perhaps a more telepathic “mind-reading” grounded in […]
In this installment of “How Did We Get Here?” led by philosopher David Nowakowski we’ll consider the idea of “species,” from Plato and Aristotle, through the Middle Ages, to Charles Darwin (of course!), and down to the present. Along the way, we’ll gain some useful insights into the role of ideas and abstraction […]
Philosophical and spiritual texts from India, like the Bhagavad Gita, often present a choice — or even a conflict — between three lives, or three different ways that we humans might organize and structure our lives. We see the life of action, focused on “getting stuff done,” particularly in the political, economic, or domestic realms. […]
In this installment of “How Did We Get Here?” we’ll consider the idea of “planet” throughout the history of astronomy starting with the ancient Greeks who identified seven, planetes asteres (or wandering stars). This included the Moon and Sun, but not the Earth. Then came Copernicus who changed our view, identifying planets as bodies which […]