Hemmo Laiho's presentation "Sapere aude! A Double-edged Sword?"

On Thursday, May 26, Dr Hemmo Laiho from the University of Turku will give a presentation "Sapere aude! A Double-edged Sword?"  The presentation will start at 12:15 in Jakobi 2 room 336. See the abstract below.

Everybody is welcome to attend!

Hemmo Laiho is a docent and senior lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Turku. He is also a Fulbright alumnus. One of his areas of expertise is history of philosophy (esp. Kant).

Sapere aude! A Double-edged Sword?

Abstract

Sapere aude! – Kant’s motto of the Enlightenment – encourages a society the members of which are capable of independent thinking and allowed the freedom of public expression. In particular, the motto encourages pursuit of knowledge unrestrained by authorities. In my talk, I offer two interpretations for the motto. The subjectivist interpretation underscores pluralism of views and individual freedom in gaining knowledge. The universalistic interpretation underscores reason as the guarantor of the possibility of arriving at objective knowledge. Both views apparently capture something crucial about the project of enlightenment, yet they run into the risk of either taking epistemic individualism too far or transcending knowledge beyond our reach. As it turns out, this tension might be more topical than ever in today’s societal context.