Notice Board

The Department of Philosophy Colloquium Series will present "Are Environments Constituents of Our Self-Identity?  Lessons from Longfellow's Evangeline" by Prof. Jennifer Welchman (Philosophy Department, University of Alberta) on Friday, November 13th (4:00 p.m.) in C-640.

Some argue that natural environments play an irreplaceable role in grounding our self-identities.  Self-identities, they argue, take narrative form, and thus require the background of “a larger narrative context of what happens before us and what comes after” which environments supply.   I agree that species and environs often play important roles in the narratives by which we understand ourselves.   But it’s not clear that they are irreplaceable.  "Evangeline" tourism in Nova Scotia provides a counter-example that suggests authentic things and places are not necessary to sustain the narratives that ground self-identity.

Everyone is welcome.