Philosophy Talk Live! How Fiction Shapes Us
October 10, 2012 - 7:00 PM
Z Space
450 Florida St.
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Co-presented by the Stanford Humanities Center
Philosophy Talk is radio that celebrates the value of the examined life. Each week, philosophers John Perry and Ken Taylor invite listeners to join them in conversation on a wide variety of issues ranging from popular culture to our most deeply-held beliefs about science, morality, and the human condition. This special live edition of Philosophy Talk features John and Ken talking about the effect of fiction on our inner world with Joshua Landy, author of How to Do Things with Fictions and co-director of Stanford University’s Literature and Philosophy Initiative.
A good novel can do many things—it can distract us from the humdrum of daily existence, stimulate our imaginations, and delight us with its creative use of language. But surely there is more to it than that. While there’s no doubt we read for the pure enjoyment of the experience, isn’t there something more we gain from engaging with fictional worlds and characters? Do we, for example, use literary texts to morally improve ourselves? Is there some deeper truth we’re supposed to learn from a good novel? Or, do we use fiction to fine-tune certain cognitive capacities? Join Philosophy Talk and Litquake to explore the possibilities!
Read more about Landy’s work here.
Philosophy Talk is produced by Ben Manilla Productions, Inc. on behalf of Stanford University, as part of its Humanities Outreach Initiative.
John Perry, Ken Taylor
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