Emory Prof coming to terms with self

Applied Philosophy Lyceum: John Lysaker

COMING TO TERMS WITH SELFHOOD

On Friday April 20 Professor John Lysaker will give a lecture entitled, "Coming to Terms with Selfhood."

Professor Lysaker is currently Professor of Philosophy at Emory University. From 1996 to 2009 he taught Philosophy and Comparative Literature at the University of Oregon. Raised in NJ, he attended Kenyon College and did his graduate work at Vanderbilt University. His work concerns the nature of the self, with a particular eye on the conditions under which humans do and do not flourish. This has led him to consider the importance of poetry for life, the nature of mental illness, schizophrenia in particular, the importance of friendship for human growth and happiness, and the ways in which various institutions (e.g. government, markets, professions) enable or undermine human well-being.

He is the author of Emerson and Self Culture (Indiana University Press), You Must Change Your Life: Poetry, Philosophy, and the Birth of Sense (Pennsylvania University Press), and co-author (with his brother Paul) of Schizophrenia and the Fate of the Self (Oxford University Press). He has also co-edited Emerson and Thoreau: Figures of Freindship (Indiana University Press).

The purpose of the Applied PhilosophyLyceum is to provoke philosophical reflection by bringing distinguished scholars to the MTSU campus to address crucial contemporary issues.

The lecture will be held April 20, 2012 at 4:00 in James Union Building, Room 304 on the Middle Tennessee State University Campus. The lecture is free and open to the public. A discussion period and an informal reception will follow.

For more information, contact the MTSU Philosophy Department at 898-2907.