Tonight: WWU's Dennis Whitcomb to present 'Wisdom in Mind and Action'

Western Washington University’s Dennis Whitcomb will present “Wisdom in Mind and Action,” the third installment this academic year in WWU’s Turning Points faculty lecture series, at 5:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 10, in Communications Facility Room 110 on the WWU campus.

The event is free and open to the public.

According to Whitcomb, ancient and medieval philosophers were deeply interested in the nature of wisdom. They asked what wisdom was, what was good about it, whether we had any, and whether it could be taught – and they debated these issues widely. Modern philosophers were less interested in wisdom, and contemporary philosophers show only a small amount of interest in it. In his talk, Whitcomb will review some very recent philosophical work that is starting to bring wisdom back to the fore. He will also give some arguments for his own views about what wisdom is, and will discuss the relationships between those views and several other competing views.

Dennis Whitcomb received his doctorate in 2007 and has been teaching Philosophy at Western ever since. He is a specialist in the theory of knowledge and value, and he is widely published in that area. Most recently, he has been thinking and writing about curiosity, wisdom, knowledge, and the relationships among these things.”

The Turning Points Faculty Speaker Series celebrates the wealth of knowledge and talent on Western’s campus. The series features hour-long eclectic talks by faculty who are experts in their fields. All lectures are free and open to the public – no tickets are required. Five to six lectures are presented each academic year.

For more information about the Turning Points Series faculty speaker series call (360) 650-7545 or visit http://www.wwu.edu/turningpoints/. For those attending Turning Points faculty lectures, no parking permit is required to park after 5 p.m. in the gravel lots 12A and the C lots south of the Communications Facility, near Fairhaven College. Parking meters require payment all hours.