Evelyn Barker Memorial Lecture with Samuel Scheffler
Part of the Spring 2025 Humanities Forum
Thursday, May 8, 2025 · 7 - 8:30 PM
In-Person
·
Fine Arts : Recital Hall
Please join us for the Department of Philosophy's annual Evelyn Barker Memorial Lecture which is part of the Dresher Center's Spring 2025 Humanities Forum :
Existential Catastrophe and the Love of Humanity
Samuel Scheffler, University Professor of Philosophy and Law, New York University
The Oxford philosopher Toby Ord estimates that there is a one in six chance that humanity will experience an “existential catastrophe” within the next hundred years. By an existential catastrophe he means either the extinction of humanity or some other event, like the irreversible collapse of civilization, that destroys what he calls humanity’s “long-term potential.” If it is true that humanity faces a serious risk of existential catastrophe within the next hundred years, how should we respond? In this talk, Samuel Scheffler will address this question and offer a compelling response to the prospect of existential catastrophe.
Following the lecture, we will invite the audience to join the conversation!
Free sweet treats following the event.
Questions? Please email ethics@umbc.edu
This public forum is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.
Presented by the Department of Philosophy and the Center for Ethics and Values and co-sponsored by Dresher Center for the Humanities; Department of Geography and Environmental Systems; Human Context of Science
and Technology Program.