TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Stephen Yablo, professor of linguistics and philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will present his lecture “Imagining Evil” at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 28 in room 110 of the Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence building, known as AIME, on The University of Alabama campus.
Yablo’s lecture, part of UA’s 2008-2009 Philosophy Today lecture series, will focus on a peculiar feature of people’s responses to fiction and what it says about the powers of one’s imagination.
“Normally we take the author’s word for just about anything; it’s his/her fictional universe after all,” Yablo said. “But we resist when the author pushes too hard against our moral convictions — stipulating, for instance, that Granny deserved to be thrown off the train because she was such boring company. Why this strange limitation on authorial authority?”
Yablo’s area of specialty includes the study of metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophical logic along with knowledge in epistemology, philosophy of language, and philosophy of mathematics.
He has taught in MIT’s department of linguistics and philosophy since 1997, serving as department chair from 2005 to 2008. Prior to that position, he taught for 12 years at the University of Michigan. He earned his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, and did graduate work at the University of Pune in Maharashtra, India. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and philosophy from University of Toronto.
Yablo has written dozens of articles for scholarly journals including the Journal of Philosophy, Philosophical Issues and Philosophical Perspectives. He has given lectures to academic audiences throughout the world including at Oxford University, Edinburgh University, Stanford University and Princeton University. He is currently working on a book titled “Aboutness.”
The 2008-2009 Philosophy Today lecture series features four experts lecturing on several key areas of philosophy. These free, non-technical lectures are geared toward a general audience and should be of interest to those in any profession or academic discipline.
The series is sponsored by The University of Alabama’s College of Arts and Sciences, the department of philosophy, a grant from Louis W. Perry of La Jolla, Calif. and Frank Peters of Corona del Mar, Calif., and other alumni and friends of the department.
Upcoming speakers in the 2008-2009 series are:
March 26, 2009
Michael P. Lynch
“Faith in Reason”
7:30 p.m., 110 AIME
April 16, 2009
Alastair Norcross
“The Clone Wars: What’s Wrong with Human Cloning?”
7:30 p.m., 110 AIME
For more information, contact Dr. H. Scott Hestevold, chairman of the department of philosophy in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, at 205/348 1912.
The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All-American Teams.
Contact
Sarah Colwell, College of Arts and Sciences, 205/348-8539, sccolwell@as.ua.edu