Speaker: Philip Kitcher, John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University
Evelyn Fox Keller, Professor of the History and Philosophy of Science, Emerita (STS) at MIT
As the icecaps melt and the sea levels rise around the globe―threatening human existence as we know it―climate change has become one of the most urgent and controversial issues of our time. For most people, however, trying to understand the science, politics, and arguments on either side can be dizzying, leading to frustrating and unproductive debates. Now, in this groundbreaking new work, two of our most renowned thinkers present the realities of global warming in the most human of terms―everyday conversation―showing us how to convince even the most stubborn of skeptics as to why we need to act now. Indeed, through compelling Socratic dialogues, Philip Kitcher and Evelyn Fox Keller tackle some of the thorniest questions facing mankind today.
This event is free and open to the public; please visit the website for more details.
Evelyn Fox Keller received her B.A. from Brandeis University (Physics, 1957) and her Ph.D. from Harvard University (Physics, 1963). She came to MIT from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric, History, and Women’s Studies (1988-1992). Professor Keller has taught at Northeastern University, S.U.N.Y. at Purchase, and New York University. She has been awarded numerous academic and professional honors, including most recently the Blaise Pascal Research Chair by the Préfecture de la Région D’Ile-de-France for 2005–07, which she spent in Paris, and elected membership in the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Science. In addition, Professor Keller serves on the editorial boards of various journals including the Journal of the History of Biology and Biology and Philosophy.
Philip Kitcher is John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia and, during the fall of 2015, was a Daimler Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. His books include Living with Darwin (Lannan Foundation Notable Book Award); Science in a Democratic Society; The Ethical Project; Preludes to Pragmatism; Deaths in Venice: The Cases of Gustav von Aschenbach; and Life After Faith. A new book on climate change, The Seasons Alter: How to Save Our Planet in Six Acts, co-authored with Evelyn Fox Keller, will be published by W.W. Norton in April 2017. Past president of the American Philosophical Association Pacific Division and editor-in-chief of Philosophy of Science, he was the first recipient of the APA’s Prometheus Prize in recognition of his “contribution to expanding the frontiers of research in philosophy and science.” He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been honored by Columbia with its Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award and a Distinguished Service to the Columbia College Core Curriculum Award. He received the Romanell-Phi Beta Kappa Professorship in Philosophy in 2003-2004.
This event is sponsored by The Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities; Dean of Humanities, Arts & Sciences; Dean of Social Science, Arts & Sciences; Department of Philosophy.
