Reading and Film Group
Monday, 6th February; 7 pm, The New Amphion, Teviot Row House (Map)
Reading: Anita L. Allen’s Atmospherics: Abortion Law and Philosophy.
(Next week’s reading: Susan Bordo’s Anorexia Nervosa: Psychopathology as the Crystallization of Culture)
(Next week’s reading: Susan Bordo’s Anorexia Nervosa: Psychopathology as the Crystallization of Culture)
Discussion Group
Tuesday, 7th February; 7 pm, The New Amphion, Teviot Row House (Map)
Topic: Science vs. Pseudo-science
Academic Support Office Hours
Wednesday, 8th February; 1.30 pm until 3.30 pm, Dugald Stewart Building (DSB), Room 5.01.
Guest Lecture
Thursday, 9th February; 6.15 pm, David Hume Tower, Lecture Theatre B.
Speaker: Prof. David Bloor, University of Edinburgh
Title: “Relativism and Mr. Trump”
Abstract: Donald Trump became president of the USA after a campaign notable for its mendacity. Why did such behaviour attract, rather than repel, votes? Some commentators answer this question by saying that we live in a post-truth age. But how did that come about? Part of the blame has been attributed to a group of academics, called ‘relativists’, who are said to have undermined the respect for truth. I shall examine this argument and show that, among other mistakes, it rests on an absurd misrepresentation of relativism. There are Trump-like tendencies in the academic world but they find expression in the anti-relativist, not the relativist, literature.