This series of lectures will take you on a journey of discovery from antiquity to the present. The lecturers will analyse, contextualise, and possibly criticise some of the more conspicuous rationalisation processes that have shaped Western civilisation.
The lectures take place on Thursdays 20 and 27 September, and 4 and 11 October. The costs whole series cost €8 for UM students and €20 for UM employees. Please register online.
Subjects include Aristotle’s resolutely scientific approach to reality, Thomas Aquinas’ astonishingly rational views of religion, and the vicissitudes of the concept of love as the counterpart of Western views of rationality. The series will conclude with a lecture on how, since René Descartes, our rational self-image has contributed to a distorted perception of our fellow creatures in the animal kingdom.
The individual lectures
1. The Birth of Scientific Method from Aristotle’s Biology (De Haas / 20 Sept)
2. Thomas Aquinas: Adam and Eve in Paradise (Goris / 27 Sept)
3. Reason and Passion: Love in the History of Western Philosophy (Pott / 4 Oct)
4. Descartes, Darwin, Dennett: Paradigmatic Changes in our Perception of Animals and Mind (Van Hooff / 11 Oct)
The lecture by Prof. Jan van Hooff on 11 October can be attended as an individual lecture.
Extra Information
Dates and Location
Thu 20 and 27 Sept, 4 Oct – 19.30 to 21.30
Karl Dittrich Hall, Student Services Centre, Bonnefantenstraat 2
Thu 11 Oct – 19.30 to 21.30
Auditorium, Minderbroedersberg 4-6
Costs whole series
UM students €8
UM employees and students from other schools €20
Others €40
About the lecturers
- Prof. Frans de Haas, Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Leiden University
- Harm Goris, PhD, Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology, Tilburg University
- Prof. Heleen Pott, Professor of Philosophy, Erasmus University Rotterdam
- Prof. Jan van Hooff, em. Professor in Ethology & Socio-ecology, Utrecht University
