English Department Southern Illinois University

English Department Southern Illinois University The second Humanities Forum speaker of the semester will present a talk on value and values in the university classroom, particularly the relationship between the humanities and democracy, on Wednesday, 2 December, at 4 p.m. in 131 Lawson. Patricia Marino, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Waterlo...o, will give a presentation entitled "Thinking about People: Humanists, Social Scientists, Ethics, and Democracy." Please contact Ryan Netzley, Andrew Youpa, or Betsy Dougherty with any questions about the talk or the Forum.

Abstract: Many disciplines reason about people, and they all face the difficulty of choosing from a range of contrasting theories and narratives. What distinguishes the humanistic method from that of social science is that in the humanities, one’s own values and ethical judgments must—and ought to—inform this selection. In evaluating the various ways in which we might simplify what is always complex, the humanist not only considers predictive success and accuracy, but also asks the distinctly normative question of what matters, and how much, and why. This paper defends this view of the humanistic enterprise against those who maintain that talk of values has no place in the university classroom, and shows how proficiency in humanistic methods is essential for participation in democratic life.