The School of Liberal Arts, University of Wollongong invites you attend the Online Agora Speaker Series Thursday 16 September, 3.30 to 5.00 PM AEST. Register here<https://uow.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cHYKJ4D11ei7UtU>
Ian Robertson (University of Wollongong) A microworld of good: habit, the meaning of life, and coffee (as the meaning of life) Great philosophers of mind and psychologists alike often conceive of habits as highly mechanistic and near-automatic responses to environmental cues that unfold outside of our deliberative control. In other words, our habitual actions are dull, reflexive responses to the world, almost wholly devoid of situational context. So construed, habits are not only unintelligent, but are often in head on collision with our intellectual pursuits. In this talk, I seek to undermine such a conception of our habitual behaviours, and to suggest that it threatens to obscure a vital role that habits play in structuring the meaningful aspects of our lives. Focusing my criticism especially on Simone De Beauvoir's (1970) claim that habit formation more often than not precludes the pursuance of meaning, I argue that habits are always to some extent context-sensitive and flexible, and (following Dreyfus and Kelly 2011) flesh out how they are an important conduit to discovering meaning. All are welcome to participate. Please find below instructions on how to register for anyone interested to attend. * In order to participate in Agora Speaker Series events, you will be required to register here<https://uow.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cHYKJ4D11ei7UtU>, you will receive an email confirming your registration. * Prior to the event, registered participants will be contacted with further information, including the Access Code for the Webinar. * Please note that our team will be using Zoom to host this webinar and - if you do not already have Zoom installed it is advised, though not necessary, that you download the software to your device. * This webinar is scheduled to be recorded and will be uploaded to UOW owned websites and/or platforms, noting that the Q&A session may be edited for privacy reasons. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this, please contact us at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> * The session chair will explain any additional rules and expected norms of engagement to participants at the outset of sessions. The Agora Speaker Series is proudly hosted by The School of Liberal Arts Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia SOLA Enquiries [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> T +61 2 4221 4160
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