Identity Project events in Hay-on-Wye
HowTheLightGetsIn, the
world's only philosophy and music festival, is back - bigger and
better.
This year's festival will have over 100 events, plus a
spectacular array of live performances. In Hay-on-Wye from Friday
28 May to Sunday 6 June, leading thinkers in every field will mix
with cutting edge musicians and performers to excite the
imagination and renew the spirit.
This year a special Identity Project strand has been programmed
with events taking place on 30 May, 1 June and 2 June.
Patients: Portraits and Psychiatrists
and Chameleon Prototype 6 will be
exhibited throughout the festival.
Discussion series, 30 May
Reclaiming the Flesh
Michel le Doeuff,
Raymond Tallis, Andy Clark. Bidisha chairs.
Tabloid culture aside, the body has had a bad press. The mind
often seems to hold all the higher ground. Through thought we
understand the world and behave responsibly, while the body
connects us with our animal past. But have we got this wrong? Is
being human really about being physically human? Is the intellect a
mere distraction from the important stuff of bodily sensation?
Radical French philosopher and playwright Michelle Le Doeuff,
leading polymath Raymond Tallis, and philosopher of mind Andy Clark
rethink the physical.
Mortality and Immortality
Aubrey de Grey, Mary Warnock, Phillip Blond. Julian Baggini
chairs.
Modern science promises to eradicate death as though it were
just another disease. Is this plausible or is knowledge of our
mortality essential to being human? Would immortality, or a
lifespan of many hundreds of years, usher in a new golden age or
strip us of our humanity?
With Aubrey de Grey, scientist and author of 'Ending Ageing',
influential ethicist and policymaker Baroness Mary Warnock, and
‘red Tory’ and theologian Phillip Blond question whether they want
to live forever.
Genetics in the Dock
Robert Winston, John Dupré, Lewis Wolpert, Mary Midgley. David
Malone chairs.
The biological sciences have irrevocably altered the way we
think of human life over the last century. But is genetics
the whole story of who we are? Are we simply vehicles for our
selfish genes or is there more to being human than genetics would
propose?
Outspoken biologist Lewis Wolpert and prominent fertility expert
Lord Robert Winston are held to account by John Dupre, author of
'Humans and Other Animals' and philosopher Mary Midgley, "the
foremost scourge of scientific pretension in the country"
(Guardian).
Events, 1-2 June
Tuesday 1 June
Wednesday 2 June
For more information and to book tickets, visit the HowTheLightGetsIn
website.
Download the
programme brochure [PDF, 2.4MB]