Dr Anna Strhan from the Department of Religious Studies and Dr David Henig from the School of Anthropology and Conservation are organising a public debate and workshop on the good, entitled ‘Where is the Good in the World? Cross-disciplinary Interventions, Future Directions’ on the 18 and 19 May 2016.
The good is an emerging topic of contemporary debates and the subject of enquiry in the humanities and social sciences. For social anthropologists, the good has become a new way of thinking about morality, ethics, and value in the course of social life, as much as a new disciplinary horizon – an anthropology of the good. The notions of ‘common good’ and ‘doing good’ have populated discourses and practices of politicians, economists, policy makers, and the general public, and are increasingly reflected across the disciplines of economics, sociology, religious studies, and theology. Although there has been a cross-disciplinary traffic of ideas about what the concept of the good can offer to new theoretical and research developments, and more specifically where the good can be located, these debates remain fragmented to date, and the question of whether the concept of the good is analytically and conceptually productive still remains. If the good is immanent to the human condition as many of these debates suggest, then we need to ask: Where is the good in the world?
The aim of this event is to bring together researchers from the disciplines of anthropology, economics, religious studies, sociology, theology, and others who share interests in the emerging field of the study of the good to provide opportunities for new discussions and to foster future directions regarding what it means to research and theorise in this field.
There will be a public debate on Wednesday 18 May in Grimond Lecture Theatre 3 from 4.30-6.30pm, with positional arguments by Michael Lambek (University of Toronto), and Joel Robbins (University of Cambridge), and responses by Elaine Graham (University of Chester), Gordon Lynch and Yvonne Sherwood (from the Department of Religious Studies), followed by a drinks reception.
Please register for this at www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/where-is-the-good-in-the-world-tickets-24592171848?utm_term=eventname_text by 16 May.
For further information and the full programme of events, please contact the event organisers: D.Henig@kent.ac.uk and A.H.B.Strhan@kent.ac.uk