Click HERE to view the Premium Art Deadlines List.


Tuesday, December 04, 2007

SOMERVILLE PHILOSOPHY CAFE DISCUSSION GROUP - December 18, 2007

McIntyre & Moore Booksellers hosts

Reductionism and Responsibility:

Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?

December's topic of the Davis Square Philosophy Café

moderated by Tom Clark

Tuesday, December 18, 7:30-9:30 pm

(Somerville, MA) McIntyre & Moore Booksellers hosts "Reductionism and Responsibility: Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?": December’s topic at the Davis Square Philosophy Café, moderated by Tom Clark, on Tuesday, December 18, 7:30-9:30 pm at McIntyre & Moore Booksellers, 255 Elm St. in Davis Square, Somerville, near the Red Line. Free and open to all; wheelchair accessible. 15% book discount* for all those attending [*discount available for day of event only]. For information call McIntyre & Moore Booksellers (617) 629-4840 or log onto www.mcintyreandmoore.com.

McIntyre and Moore Booksellers, in conjunction with the Center for Naturalism, continues year 5 of its discussion group series, the Davis Square Philosophy Café, held each month on the third Tuesday. The Philosophy Café is a philosophy discussion group modeled on philosophy cafés underway in other cities in Europe and the US. The goal is to present occasions for informal, relaxed philosophical discussion on topics of mutual interest to participants. No particular expertise is required to participate, only a desire to explore philosophy and its real world applications.

December’s topic, “Reductionism and Responsibility: Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?" will focus on the following:
Brain scans reveal that murderers prone to extreme violence tend to have poorer functioning in the pre-frontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for impulse control. Such findings spark the worry that if behavior results just from neural processes, then people aren’t legitimate targets of praise and blame. Do we have powers that transcend what neurons can do, and are such powers necessary to justify holding each other responsible? If we don’t, might that change our ideas about responsibility and criminal justice?

(Background of the moderator)
Tom Clark is director of the Boston-based Center for Naturalism and author of Encountering Naturalism: A Worldview and Its Uses. He writes on science, naturalism, free will, consciousness, addiction and other topics, and maintains an extensive website on philosophical and applied naturalism, Naturalism.Org. As moderator of the Philosophy Café, he brings an engaging interest in philosophy and its real world applications, and the ability to involve participants of varied backgrounds in animated, productive and fair discussion.

McIntyre & Moore Booksellers
www.mcintyreandmoore.com
On the Red Line, in the heart of Davis Square
Greater Boston's best source for scholarly used books
Open for browsing 7 days a week until 11 pm

--submitted by marycurtinproductions
c/o Mary Curtin
PO Box 290703, Charlestown, MA 02129
617-241-9664, 617-470-5867 (cell), marycurtin@comcast.net
"dedicated to staging insightful entertainment, particularly in non-traditional venues"
http://www.marycurtinproductions.com



<< Home

Click HERE to view the Premium Art Deadlines List.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?