Monday, February 04, 2013

[HvEXAS] Simon Critchley: Philosophy and the Art of Dying talk | Tues Feb 12, 6 PM | EMPAC, Troy, NY

TALK: OBSERVER EFFECTS
Simon Critchley: Philosophy and the Art of Dying
Tuesday, February 12, 2013, 6 PM
EMPAC Theater
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
FREE



Simon Critchley, author of The Book of Dead Philosophers, will recount anecdotes of philosophers' deaths since antiquity that range from noble to ridiculous. Through the lens of their last moments, Critchley will reflect on the relationship between a philosopher's work and his death. In the process, he will question the adage "to philosophize is to die well" and meditate on the role of philosophy in living a good life in a society like ours that spends so much time and space denying the reality of death.

Simon Critchley is the Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, where he has taught since 2004. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including The Ethics of Deconstruction: Derrida and Levinas (Blackwell, 1992); Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2001), which was translated into nine languages; and On Humour (Routledge, 2002), which was translated into eight languages. The Book of Dead Philosophers (Vintage, 2009) was on the New York Times extended bestseller list and so far has been translated into 15 languages. Critchley is a series moderator and regular contributor of "The Stone," a popular online philosophy column for the New York Times. He also writes for The Guardian. Two books of interviews with Critchley have recently been published: How to Stop Living and Start Worrying (Polity, 2010) and Impossible Objects (Polity, 2011). The Faith of the Faithless, a major new work on the relationship between politics and religion, was published by Verso in February 2012. A new book on Shakespeare's Hamlet will be published by Pantheon Books next summer. He lives in Brooklyn.

+ interview with Critchley from February's Chronogram: http://www.chronogram.com/hudsonvalley/simon-critchley/Content?oid=2144196

The talk is free and open to the public.

Evelyn's Café will open at 5 PM with a full menu of meals, snacks, and beverages as well as a selection of wines. Service continues after the event. Parking is available in the Rensselaer parking lot on College Avenue.
 
More information can be found on the EMPAC website: empac.rpi.edu. Questions? Call the EMPAC Box Office: 518.276.3921.

EMPAC 2012-2013 presentations, residencies, and commissions are made possible by continuous support from the Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts. Additional project support by the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the New York State Council for the Arts; Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Council Norway, Fond for Lyd og Bilde, and Fond for Utøvende Kunstner.

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The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, NY, USA  12180

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