Events

20 April 2010

Exorcising the geist in the machine: Taking the humanities beyond dualism

Seminar

This talk will argue that, for the humanities to progress, they need to move beyond the mind-body dualism that underlies our current strict separation between the humanities and natural sciences. Scientific discoveries about human cognition have an important constraining function to play in the humanities, calling into question such deeply entrenched dogmas as the “blank slate” theory of human nature, strong social constructivism, and the ideal of disembodied reason. The goal of this talk is to suggest how the humanities would be altered if humanists began taking these discoveries seriously, as well as to explore what “vertical integration” or “consilience” would mean for our concept of the person, human consciousness, and human-level truths. At the same time, it will also discuss some important ways in which early models of “consilience” have to be modified in light of legitimate critiques from the humanities, and provides an outline of what a more sophisticated “second wave” of consilience might look like. Finally, it will conclude with some concrete case examples, taken from ethics and Chinese studies, to illustrate how adopting a consilient framework would impact our work as humanists.

Organisation:

School of Asian Studies, University of Auckland.