Andrew Davis On The Meaning Crisis, Existential Risk, and Philosophical Praxis: Contributions from Process Philosophy
Dear Friends of Developmental Philosophy,
Please join us for a presentation and discussion by process philosopher Andrew Davis, PhD.
This presentation aims to foster a discussion about the significance of philosophy and the role philosophers play in addressing interconnected thresholds of discourse, including “existential risk,” the “meaning crisis,” and “philosophical practice.” It highlights examples of ideas and thinkers whose philosophical positions fall short of offering effective solutions, thus presenting what can be considered philosophical failures. The discussion ties these challenges to the international movement known as “philosophical practice,” which seeks to apply philosophy as a guide for everyday living.
Could this movement, in its effort to reawaken philosophy as the “love of wisdom,” provide remedies for the pressing issues we face, both individually and collectively? While process philosophy has been largely overlooked in contemporary discussions of philosophical practice, its concepts are already being applied in the context of existential risk and the meaning crisis. But more work needs to be done.
Can Whitehead be located among the philosophical practitioners? In offering an affirmative answer, the presentation concludes by highlighting important practical and, indeed, civilizational undercurrents in some of Whitehead’s definitions of philosophy. Process philosophers are thus encouraged to apply their insights in the form of lived (and loved) wisdom for the preservation of civilization.
Andrew M. Davis, Ph.D. is an American process philosopher, theologian, and scholar of cosmological wonder. He is the program director for the Center for Process Studies, where he researches, writes, teaches, and organizes conferences on various aspects of process-relational thought. An advocate of metaphysics and meaning in a hospitable universe, he approaches philosophy as the endeavor to systematically think through what reality must be like because we are a part of it. He is the author, editor, and co-editor of several books, including Mind, Value, and Cosmos: On the Relational Nature of Ultimacy and, most recently, Metaphysics of Exo-Life: Toward a Constructive Whiteheadian Cosmotheology. Follow his work at andrewmdavis.info.
When: Wednesday, April 9, from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM Mountain Time
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