Darwinism and Its Ideological Distortions: Lecture in Lethbridge

Darwin, from U. of L. site

The Annual Tagg Yoshida Lecture in Liberal Education this year will be by

Dr. David J. Depew

Darwinism and Its Ideological Distortions

7:00 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 12

Viewing Gallery, Sir Alexander Galt Museum

What Darwinism is really about is not always clearly understood. When transferred to the social sphere, Darwinism gave rise to important distortions, such as discourses about class, race, and, since the 1970s, gender. Yet, Darwinism prizes difference and individuality, so that the real lesson of Darwinism is to precisely eliminate the thinking about “essences” or collective categories such as race, class, and gender.

Dr. Depew is a professor of Communication Studies and Rhetoric of Inquiry at the University of Iowa.  Recent articles and book chapters include The Rhetoric of the Origin of Species andConsequence Etiology and Biological Teleology in Aristotle and Darwinism.

A public reception will follow.

The Tagg-Yoshida lecture underscores the importance of liberal education to Canadian Society.  Each year a speaker is invited who has not only made significant contributions in his or her area of academic study, but as well, significant contributions to our shared public interest.  Dr. Depew’s lecture is in conjunction with the Darwin Symposium (information can be found at https://www.uleth.ca/conreg/darwin/) being held at the University of Lethbridge on November 12-14, 2009, and is co-sponsored by the following University of Lethbridge departments: The President’s Office, Dean’s Office (Arts and Science), Faculty of Education, Faculty of Fine Arts, The School of Health Sciences, and the Department of Philosophy.

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Defining Dawwinism

This lecture is in conjunction with the “Defining Darwinism: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Debate” symposium being held at the University of Lethbridge on November 12-14, 2009 (symposium information can be located at https://www.uleth.ca/conreg/darwin/).

Ever since Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859 scholars have been unceasingly involved in exploring the various implications of the theory of natural selection. In addition to the several distinct possible conceptions of this idea in the biological sphere, the notion of a changing world influenced by natural selection has also found applications in the social sciences (e.g., social Darwinism, sociobiology) as well as in the physicochemical sciences (e.g., thermodynamics, self-organization). Much more than a mere biological theory, Darwinism has rapidly become a dynamic, multi-dimensional, and evolving research entity with near-universal implications for science, a context which has in turn subjected it to various ideological, epistemological, and metaphysical influences. One hundred and fifty years after Darwin’s original publication, it is still now not entirely clear what Darwinism is all about. The aim of this meeting is to reflect upon the nature of the complex and changing research entity known as Darwinism.

The symposium is FREE AND OPEN TO SCHOLARS, STUDENTS, AND THE PUBLIC

All of the above is shamelessly reproduced, adapted and stolen from the promotional material…

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