Australian Materialism

Venue: Kathleen Fitzpatrick Lecture Theatre - B101, Kathleen Fitzpatrick Theatre

Presenters: Professor Peter Godfrey-Smith

One of Australia’s contributions to the history of philosophy is something called ‘Australian materialism.’ What sort of materialism is this and why is it associated with Australia? This lecture will discuss the past, present, and future of materialist philosophies, together with the conceptions of ‘matter’ that accompany these views. Most debates about materialism concern the relations between minds and bodies; is a person no more than the biological matter that makes them up? People often suspect that a materialist philosophy will inevitably be associated with an amoral or selfish outlook. What is the connection (if any) between materialism and choices about how to live one’s life?

This lecture is the 2017 Barry Taylor and David Lewis Philosophy Lecture.

Professor Godfrey-Smith is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the Graduate Center, CUNY (City University of New York), and Professor of History and Philosophy of Science (half-time) at the University of Sydney. He has previously taught at University of California San Diego, Stanford, Harvard, and the Australian National University. His main research focuses on the philosophy of biology and the philosophy of mind

from
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/events/9251-australian-materialism