Thursday, April 19
John J. Stuhr, “God, Death and the Absurd: What Makes Life Worth Living?”
Isabella Cannon Room, 7:30 p.m.
The Ferris E. Reynolds Lecture in Philosophy
Renowned American philosopher John Stuhr (author of Pragmatism, Postmodernism, and the Future of Philosophy, as well as a number of other books and articles) wades into a set of philosophical questions that have troubled thinkers for centuries: what does it take to give life meaning? Must human beings have a faith in an omnipotent, omniscient being to render life meaningful? Is belief in God ultimately pragmatic or does it run counter to a robust pragmatism? Stuhr will weave together considerations of pragmatism, existentialism and pop music as he tackles these questions from his relentlessly contemporary perspective.