| Biography: |
Massimo Pigliucci is an author, blogger, podcaster, as well as the K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City College of New York. His academic work is in evolutionary biology, philosophy of science, the nature of pseudoscience, and practical philosophy. Massimo publishes a regular column in Philosophy Now entitled “The Art of Living.” His books include How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life (Basic Books) and Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk (University of Chicago Press). Massimo’s latest is Beyond Stoicism: A Guide to the Good Life with Stoics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and Other Ancient Philosophers (with Greg Lopez and Meredith Kunz, The Experiment). More by Massimo at https://figsinwintertime.substack.com. |
| Session Description: |
Skepticism, these days, is a bad word. You say you are a skeptic and people think you don’t believe in anything; plus, you may be confused with so-called climate change or vaccine “skeptics.” Yet, skepticism has a long and fascinating history, going back to Pyrrho of Elis and the skeptical phase of Plato’s Academy in the 4th-1st centuries BCE. In this talk I’d like to make a case for what skepticism actually is and for why we should not follow misguided folks who think we should “rebrand” ourselves. Skeptics of the world, unite!
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