Date/Time
Date(s) - Fri, 01/31/2020
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Location
Swedenborg Chapel

Categories


Philosophy and Art for Troubled Times:
A Conversation with Devin Zuber and John Kaag
7:00 pm Friday, January 31 2020
Swedenborg Chapel, 50 Quincy St. Cambridge, MA

Join philosophy professor John Kaag (University of Massachusetts) and Devin Zuber (American Studies and Literature, GTU at Berkeley) as they discuss their recent book projects. From the ratcheting effects of climate change to the unravelling of our democratic norms, the new decade is certainly off to a roaring start. Given this present state of emergency (perceived or otherwise), of what use are books, art, and ideas from the past? Dr. Kaag will talk about his forthcoming book on William James and why Pragmatism still very much matters; Dr. Zuber will discuss how figures like Ralph Waldo Emerson and John Muir can speak to our unfolding planetary emergency, drawing on material from his new book, A Language of Things.

BIO: John Kaag is the author of American Philosophy: A Love Story, which was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and an NPR Best Book of the year, and Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are, which was also an NPR Best Book of the year. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, and many other publications. He is professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

BIO: Devin Zuber is an associate professor at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) at Berkeley, California. His most recent book, A Language of Things (UVA Press), recovers the overlooked significance of the scientist-turned-mystic Emanuel Swedenborg for various environmental artists and writers. He also writes on contemporary art, and has a forthcoming book featuring interviews with the performance artist Marina Abramović.