John Rawls' work may be the state of the art in western political theory. He transformed the discipline in 1971 with A THEORY OF JUSTICE and spent the next thirty years refining his theory in response to the most able critiques from across the political spectrum. As Harvard professor Michael Sandel has written, A THEORY OF JUSTICE "is a powerful, deep, subtle, wide ranging, systematic work in political and moral philosophy which has not seen its like since the writings of John Stuart Mill, if then. It is a fountain of illuminating ideas, integrated together into a lovely whole. Political philosophers now must either work within Rawls' theory or explain why not."
In this classic, the world's expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved. With deft use of examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution.
Summary: What, exactly, is a philosophy of life? Who needs it, and why? In this talk I answer these questions beginning with a story that happened 23 centuries ago, and which resulted in the articulation of one of the most influential philosophies of antiquity, Stoicism. That philosophy is experiencing a comeback in the 21st century, for the simple reasons that it resonates with fundamentals of the human condition, and that it works in practice. We will see how Stoicism can offer a compass to navigate life, to set priorities for what is important, and to become better citizens of the world.
Message from Meredith Porter, Camp Director, Camp Quest Smoky Mountains:
I'm the Camp Director of a volunteer-run secular humanist camp in the Smokies east of Knoxville. I'm trying to get in touch with area groups, as we're looking for volunteers for this summer's camp session (July 17th-24th). We're an affiliate of Camp Quest, an organization dedicated to fun, friends, and freethought by providing kids a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space to be themselves. We're a lot like a typical camp (minus the religious aspect of many camps), but add in fun secular activities like Socrates Café or science experiments.
We are staffed by adult volunteers (ages 18 and up) who take a week off of work or school to guide, challenge, listen to, chase after, and play outside with a big group of energetic, freethinking kids (and adults!). Most Camp Quest volunteers love the experience so much that they keep coming back year after year. We provide housing (in air-conditioned dorms) and meals for the duration of training and camp.
