29th Annual SU Philosophy Symposium Saturday, April 25

SALISBURY, MD---REM may have foretold “The End of the World As We Know It,” but the band never offered any advice on how to cope with such an extraordinary event.

Salisbury University’s Philosophy Department attempts to fill that gap during the 29th annual Philosophy Symposium, “When Worlds End: Living Well in the Time of Extinction” 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 25 in Caruthers Hall Auditorium.

The symposium focuses on the many crises humanity faces in the post-9/11 world, from finance to religion, politics to the environment, and whether our sense of exceptionality contributes to the end of the world or forestalls it.

“The continued existence of human civilization and the more-than-human living world in which it is embedded is at risk in an unprecedented manner,” said Dr. James Hatley, SU professor of philosophy and event organizer. “At least we are increasingly suspicious that this is the case, as we are beleaguered by a litany of world-ending issues: global warming, genocide, weapons of mass destruction, resource depletion, habitat loss, overpopulation, species extinction and pollution, among others. Should we worry that we are living on borrowed time on a planetary scale? Or is this thought a self-defeating one?”

Speakers during a morning panel include Dr. Daniel Conway, chair of Texas A&M University’s Philosophy Department; Dr. Christian Diehm, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin at Stephens Point; Dr. Joan Maloof, associate professor of biological sciences at SU; Steven Sandbank of the International Association for the Study of Environment, Space and Place; and Dr. Timothy Stock, assistant professor of philosophy at SU. An informal discussion, open to all in attendance, follows in the afternoon.

Sponsored by the Philosophy Department, admission is free and the public is invited. For more information call 410-677-5070 or visit the SU Web site at www.salisbury.edu.