Life, Death, and Meaning
Ľubica Učník
Fremantle Library, Walyalup Civic Centre
10-week course
Dates TBC (coming early 2023)
Given that modern thought has renounced the privileged position of God, and/or the Cosmos, as the explanatory horizon within which we make sense of our lives, Science seems to be the only criterion of our reality. Wonder and awe-inspiring nature becomes a collection of things that modern science can explain within its mathematical-scientific formula. In our technologically globalised world, the ancient question of the meaning of life becomes meaningless. Transcendence no longer conditions our lives. Rather, we are concerned with our finite individual projects, channelling our energies towards a greater accumulation of material possessions that are the only measure of our success in life. In this unit, we will attempt to think over the ancient question of the meaning of life. Is it possible to think about “the meaning of life” in our modern techno-scientific world?
Ľubica Učník
Fremantle Library, Walyalup Civic Centre
10-week course
Dates TBC (coming early 2023)
Given that modern thought has renounced the privileged position of God, and/or the Cosmos, as the explanatory horizon within which we make sense of our lives, Science seems to be the only criterion of our reality. Wonder and awe-inspiring nature becomes a collection of things that modern science can explain within its mathematical-scientific formula. In our technologically globalised world, the ancient question of the meaning of life becomes meaningless. Transcendence no longer conditions our lives. Rather, we are concerned with our finite individual projects, channelling our energies towards a greater accumulation of material possessions that are the only measure of our success in life. In this unit, we will attempt to think over the ancient question of the meaning of life. Is it possible to think about “the meaning of life” in our modern techno-scientific world?
William Blake, Ancient of Days (1794).
Instructor biography
Dr Ľubica Učník’s research is in the area of history of ideas, phenomenology, and the question of truth. She is specifically interested in the history of mathematisation and the modern impulse to reduce everything to algorithmic reasoning and datafication.