Professor Simon Blackburn will give a public lecture on behalf of the Department of Philosophy on Wednesday 18 February from 4-6pm in the Maths Lecture Theatre, Cornwallis Mathematical Institute, entitled ‘Can There be a Science of Human Nature’.
Simon Blackburn is a Philosopher and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge and from 1984 to 1990 was the editor of the journal Mind. He has written over 12 books including Mirror, Mirror: The Uses and Abuses of self-love (Princeton University Press, 2014); Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed (Penguin, 2005); and Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 1999).
For at least three centuries human nature has been a hotly contested topic. With the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species (1859) it took on a new appearance, and with subsequent advances in neurophysiology, evolutionary biology, and other sciences it has transformed itself yet again. However, the extra insights offered by these advances can seem relatively disappointing. In this lecture Professor Blackburn explores why this might be so, and whether the obstacles are likely to be overcome.
Full details of the event are available at: www.kent.ac.uk/secl/events