Today's Event!
"Devotion, Invulnerability, and Fanaticism" with Paul Katsafanas and Urja Lakhani
Event Time: 11am PT/2pm ET/7pm UK
Devotion, Invulnerability, and Fanaticism
Paul Katsafanas in conversation with Urja Lakhani
Why do people persist in commitments that threaten their happiness, security, and comfort? Why do some of our most central, identity-defining commitments resist the effects of reasoning and critical reflection?
In today’s event, philosopher Paul Katsafanas will draw on real-life examples, empirical psychology, and philosophical reflection to argue that these commitments involve an ethical stance called devotion, which plays a pervasive role in human life.
Without devotion, we risk an existential condition called normative dissipation, in which all of our commitments become enfeebled. Yet devotion can easily go wrong, deforming into the individual and group fanaticism that have become pervasive features of modern social life. Therefore, Katsafanas will also provide an alternative to fanaticism, investigating the ways in which we can express non-pathological forms of devotion. You can find out more and register here.