Philosophy Talk

Philosophy Talk: Live at The Marsh Berkeley
For multiple-show tickets, please call our administrative office at (415) 641-0235 between the hours of 10 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday to pay by credit card and make reservations for specific shows.
Individual Shows: $15 pre-sale/$20 at door
Any 2 shows: $25
Any 4 shows: $45
All 8 shows: $80
All Dates:
Sunday October 9th, 2011 in SF
Sunday January 22nd, 2012 in Berkeley
Sunday April 29th, 2012 in Berkeley
Sunday July 15th, 2012 in SF
In Berkeley:… Show more
Sunday, January 22nd 2012
12:00pm - Poetry As A Way Of Knowing with Jane Hirshfield What is poetry? Mere word play? A pretty, or at any rate striking, way of expressing thought and emotion? Or does great poetry involve an approach to the world that provides insight and information not available in other ways? Ken and John explore how poetry can illuminate what we know with award-winning poet Jane Hirshfield, author of Come, Thief and other poetic works of philosophical richness.
3:00pm - What Are Leaders Made Of? With Deborah Rhode There seems to be a paradox in leadership: the qualities of ruthlessness and opportunism necessary to attain power and become a leader are not necessarily the qualities of morality and a sense of justice that make for a good leader. Do the traits that make it likely that someone will become a leader correlate positively or negatively with the traits that make a good and effective leader? Do our democratic institutions lead to better leaders than, say, a lottery like the Athenians used? Ken and John ask what leaders are and should be made of with Stanford Law Professor Deborah Rhode, co-author of Moral Leadership: The Theory and Practice of Power, Judgment, and Policy.
Sunday, April 29th 2012
12:00pm - Identity And Place In A Global Age with Bharati Mukherjee Throughout human history, people have tended to live and die in the same place, or at least the same region, in which theyre born. Place is an important part of one's identity. But what happens when people are deprived of this sense of place? What psychological effects do emigrants, exiles, and expatriates endure? What happens to the importance of place when community membership can be based on common interests among people linked by email and facebook? Do we risk losing an important part of human life? Or do we gain freedom from the lottery of birth? John and Ken situate themselves with UC Berkeley English Professor Bharati Mukherjee, author of Miss New India and other novels exploring migration, alienation, and identity.
3:00pm - Hypocrisy with Lawrence Quill Hypocrites believe one thing, but do another. Jefferson opposed slavery, but owned slaves. Jesus professed universal love, but cursed an innocent fig tree. Jerry Brown opposes the death penalty, but as governor of California will be responsible for executions. Hypocrites all but vile hypocrites? Surely it was better that Jefferson was a hypocrite, and articulated the case against slavery, than not opposing it at all. Does it take courage to defend a view that you, yourself, don't have the courage or the character to follow through on? John and Ken try to practice what they preach with Lawrence Quill from San Jose State University, author of Civil Disobedience: (Un)Common Sense in Mass Democracies.
For San Francisco dates, see the other event Philosophy Talk at The Marsh SF
Each show is 90 minutes with no intermission.

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