Spring 2025

Language, Power, and Politics

Saturday 1/11 | Elm Library

A pre-term seminar on the relationship between language, power, and politics. More info…

Virtue and Law in the Islamic Tradition

Saturday, March 29 | Elm Library
12.30-4.00pm

A seminar on the Islamic understanding of the nature and purposes of law and the relationship between law and virtue, with readings from Al-Ghazālī, Avicenna and contemporary authors. More info…

The Heirs of Avicenna: A Conversation with Peter Adamson

Wednesday, April 2 | Elm Library
6.00-8.00pm

Peter Adamson, author of the History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, will discuss the reception of Avicenna in the Islamic world, and the status of Islamic thought in contemporary philosophy. More info…

The Philosophy of Everyday Life

Thursdays | 6.00-7.30pm | Elm Library

A series of discussions about the deep questions that underlie everyday human experiences and activities. Topics for the spring include fame, promises, jokes, and the news. More info…

Classics of Medical Ethics

Mondays | 5.00-6.30pm | Anlyan Center

A new series dedicated to discussing essays in medical ethics that have established themselves as classics in the field.

Augustine’s Political Thought

Fridays | 9.30-11.00am | Elm Library

Regarded as an undisputed authority in the Latin Middle Ages, Augustine has continued to be a powerful influence on Christian thought, and his influence has continued to extend into the modern period. More info…

Friday Speaker Series

(For full details and to RSVP click here)

"Hear Both Sides": The Anti-Federalists and the Creation of America’s Public Square
1/31 Derek Webb (Yale University)

Aquinas on Moral Mistakes
2/7 Nicholas Ogle (University of Pennsylvania)

Does Commerce Make Us Trivial? Adam Smith on Magnanimity
2/14 Justin Hawkins (Columbia University)

Marx as an Ethical Thinker
2/21 Michael Lazarus (Yale University)

Auerbach’s Augustinianism: Figural Reading and Political Pessimism
2/28 J. Columcille Dever (Providence College)

Moral Imagination and the Novel
3/28 Tara Isabella Burton & Dhananjay Jagannathan (Columbia University)

Augustine on Slavery, Human and Divine
4/4 Toni Alimi (Cornell University)