Nick Riggle, Ph.D.
Associate professor of philosophy at the University of San Diego
Todd Kashdan, Ph.D.
Professor of psychology, George Mason University, and bestselling author
This Beauty: A Philosophy of Being Alive
BONUS AFTER-HOURS EVENT: Attendees who purchase a copy of This Beauty from FAN’s partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend an AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Riggle and Kashdan that will start immediately after the webinar. Details on the webinar registration page.
Before Nick Riggle, Ph.D. became an acclaimed philosopher and a new father, he was a pro skater and high school dropout. Reflecting on his past and on the brink of bringing new life into this world, he asks the fundamental question of why we should value our lives even though we did not ask for or consent to them. The conventions of everyday language urge us to value this life and to make the most of it: “seize the day,” “treat yourself,” “you only live once.” While these expressions might appear cliché, they also convey a sense of life’s urgency and fleeting nature. Yet does the finiteness of life, or a feeling that it is precious, itself offer sufficient reason to love life? And does it give us any clue as to how we might go about living?
An associate professor of philosophy at the University of San Diego, Riggle uses these questions as his basis for launching a profound and life affirming inquiry, exploring the nature of beauty—the beauty of this day, this body, this moment, these people—and developing the idea that aesthetic value makes life not only worth living, but worth engaging with and amplifying as beautiful. The result is a refreshing, philosophically ambitious but surprisingly practical guide for understanding ourselves and how best to live, both in our own lives and in relation to others.
Prof. Riggle will be in conversation with Todd Kashdan, Ph.D. (FAN ’22), professor of psychology at George Mason University. Awarded the 2013 Distinguished Early Career Researcher Award by the American Psychological Association, Prof. Kashdan is among the world’s top experts on the psychology of well-being, psychological strengths, mental agility, and social relationships. His most recent book is The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively, his writing has appeared in the Harvard Business Review, National Geographic, and other publications, and his research is featured regularly in media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, Fast Company, and Time Magazine.
This event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on our website and YouTube channel.
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Upcoming Events
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Alan Lightman, Ph.D.
Professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT and author of seven novels
Dacher Keltner, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Faculty Director of the Greater Good Science Center, and bestselling author
ON ZOOM
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Michael Norton, Ph.D.
Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Sam Sommers, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Racial Equity and Diversity Lab at Tufts University
ON ZOOM
