Species Evolution and Cultural Freedom

February 7, 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Mānoa Campus, Saunders 624 Add to Calendar

A presentation by William E. Connolly, Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University.

When you transcend the reductionism of both genocentrism and cultural theories that bracket human being from its species origins and biological character, a reciprocal movement between the findings of refined experience and those of biological research becomes available. Drawing upon recent work in dynamic theories of evolution that respect both cultural diversity and the human achievements of meaning, freedom, consciousness and creativity, this talk explores how those findings can inform our understandings and practices of human freedom. The basic idea is to move back and forth between dynamic theories of evolution and the role subliminal searching mechanisms play in our own practices of freedom. This talk is part of a larger study designed to think about how we should cope with both the human relation to itself and to nonhuman processes during the era of the Anthropocene.


Event Sponsor
Political Science, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Kathy Ferguson, 808-956-8357, kferguso@hawaii.edu, http://www.politicalscience.hawaii.edu/

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