Faith in Reason Discussed at UA Philosophy Today Lecture

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A philosophical discussion on reason and faith will be presented by Dr. Michael P. Lynch, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, at 7:30 p.m. March 26 in the AIME (Alabama Institute for Manufacturing Excellence) building, room 110, on The University of Alabama campus.

The lecture is as part of the 2008-2009 Philosophy Today speaker series in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences.

In his lecture, “Faith in Reason,” Lynch will discuss the importance of reason in a democracy and if a person can truly distinguish between faith and reason.

“A commonly held belief among folks of all political and religious persuasions is that ‘it all comes down to faith.’ The idea is that we can’t give reasons for everything;so, at some point, we have to take something for granted ‘on faith,'” Lynch said.

“Unfortunately, this sort of thought has led some people to think that reason doesn’t matter. After all, if it all comes down to assumptions, why worry at all about giving reasons for your views? In my talk, I will argue that even if we do have to take some things for granted, reasons do matter, and that we ignore their importance at our peril.”

Lynch’s work has been highly praised. He is the author most recently of “Truth as One and Many” (scheduled to be released in March 2009) and “True to Life,” which was hailed by the New York Times Sunday Book Review as “marvelous…a passionate demonstration that truth matters…strikingly clear and painstakingly reasoned.”

“True to Life” also was selected as a New York Times Editor’s Choice award, was the Gold Award Winner for Philosophy in the 2004 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award. Lynch is currently at work on a new book, called “Faith in Reason.”

Lynch also is the author or editor of four other books: “Truth in Context,” winner of the Choice award as Outstanding Book of the Year in Philosophy, 1999; “The Nature of Truth;” “Perspectives on the Philosophy of William P. Alston;” and “Truth and Realism: New Debates.” He is the author of more than 40 articles and reviews published in scholarly journals.

He has lectured by invitation throughout the United States and abroad. He has appeared on National Public Radio and his work has been reviewed or discussed in The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Toronto Globe and Mail, The Chicago Tribune, The Herald-Tribune, The Denver Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Lynch has previously held positions at the University of Mississippi and Connecticut College where he was chair of the department of philosophy. He has visiting appointments at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

In 2003 he was awarded a Bogliasco Fellowship at the Liguria Study Center in Italy. He is a past recipient of the Cora L. Graham Outstanding Teacher of Freshmen Award from the University of Mississippi. He is the past program chair for Society for Philosophy and Psychology, has served on the program committee for the Central Division of the American Philosophical Association and has been guest editor of the journal Social Epistemology.

The 2008-2009 Philosophy Today lecture series features experts on 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.

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.