At A Glance...
Sunday Lecture - Apes Like Us: Towards an Evolutionary Humanism
20 May 2012
Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology Volker Sommer illustrates how studies of great apes challenge our deep-rooted tendency to distinguish "humans" from "animals" - as well as the dualism of "mind" and "body" - and asks whether evolutionary theory must always lend itself to worldviews that embrace materialism and atheism.
11.00, £3 on the door/free to members.
Piatti Quartet
20 May, 2012, 18.30
- Charlottle Scott violin
- Michael Trainor violin
- David Wigram viola
- Jessie Ann Richardson 'cello
- Mendelssohn: Quartet in E flat Op. 44/3
- Bartok: Quartet No.3
- Beethoven: Quartet in A minor Op. 132
£8 tickets on the door, £4 for full-time students (free entry for under-16s), box office opens at 17.30.
Can Schools get through to Muslim Boys?
24 May 2012
Philosophy for Educational Renewal Event
Dr Matthew Wilkinson won scholarships to Eton and Cambridge specialising in theology, but then converted to Islam. He is concerned that schools are not making the effort to relate to Muslim boys.
1800 start, please register by emailing Sheila Richards: sheilarichards@aol.com
Carablanca Tango Club
25 May 2012
19.30 - 00.00
Carablanca is London's longest-running tango club. The friendly, informal atmosphere ensures that beginners and visitors mix easily with the regular dancers.
The dance evening is an Argentine milonga, preceded by a class. There are also classes for beginners in a separate room. Music is traditional Argentine tango, milonga and vals, played in tandas with cortinas by guest DJs.
TICKETS: price £10 for a class or dancing, £12 for both, paid on entry.
Looking Back at Bernard Shaw
25 May 2012
Join theatre director Richard Digby Day, who has produced most of Shaw’s plays during his long career, and Toni Kanal, who has acted in them, as they discuss the Shaw and his impact on their working lives.
Richard Digby Day is a British stage director and international professor and lecturer. He is particularly well-known for his work in the classical theatre, and is considered to have a special penchant for the plays of William Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw. He is Vice President of the Shaw Society, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and has staged more productions of Shaw's work than any other living director. His productions of Stephen Sondheim musicals have also been notable. Toni Kanal is also Vice President of the Shaw Society, and for many years organised the open air theatre at Shaw’s Corner.
£4 pay at the door (or £2 for members of the Shaw Society or Ethical Society members)
Health, Disease & Bioethics: a theological perspective
26 May 2012
Philosophical Society of England Annual Lecture
Presented by Professor Neil Messer, University of Winchester.
1430 start - all welcome.
Conway Hall Ensemble
27 May 2012
Pre-concert recital, 17.30:
- James Barralet 'cello
- Simon Callaghan piano
- Brahms 'Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Op. 99
Main concert, 18.30:
Conway Hall Ensemble
- Ilya Movchan violin
- Eniko Magyar viola
- James Barralet 'cello
- William Stafford clarinet
- Emma Whitney horn
- Simon Callaghan piano
- Brahms: Trio in E flat Op. 40
- Bartok: Contrasts
- Dohnanyi: Sextet in C Op. 37
£8 tickets on the door, £4 for full-time students (free entry for under-16s), box office opens at 17.30.
Sunday Lecture: The Value and Values of Science
27 May 2012
Imran Khan, director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, speaks about science communication and policy development.
Using real-world examples, ranging from drug policy, nuclear energy, and research funding, Imran will ask whether we can have a more enlightened debate about the place of science in our society - and what the consequences of not doing so might be.
11.00, £3 on the door/free to members
Four Ways to Live Forever?
31 May 2012
In his new book, philosopher Stephen Cave argues that behind the world’s beliefs, creeds and ideologies are just four fundamental strategies, all with one goal: immortality.
New research in psychology is proving what the poets long knew: that we are driven to do what we do by the fear of death and the desire to live forever. Cave maintains that all of our attempts to defy the Reaper fall into one of four basic strategies: staying alive (whether through magic or medicine); being resurrected (with help from the divine - or more recently, cryonics); persisting as a soul (either in heaven, hell, or reincarnated on earth); or living on through one’s legacy (whether genes, art or fame). Although all four strategies are ancient, modern science puts us in a far better position than our ancestors to see if any of them can succeed.
To explore the possibility - and even desirability - of living forever, Stephen will be joined on stage for this event by biologist Professor Lewis Wolpert and journalist Catherine Mayer. Discussion and audience Q and A will be chaired by Caspar Melville, editor of New Humanist.
Stephen Cave writes on a wide range of philosophical, ethical and scientific subjects. He has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Cambridge, and subsequently spent some years in the Diplomatic Service before dedicating himself to writing. Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How it Drives Civilization is out now.
Lewis Wolpert CBE is Emeritus Professor of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College London, former chairman of the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science and Vice President of the British Humanist Association. He writes widely on science issues and most recently produced a book on ageing: You're Looking Very Well: the Surprising Nature of Getting Old (2010).
Catherine Mayer is an author and journalist currently working as Europe Editor for Time Magazine. Her book Amortality: The Pleasures and Perils of Living Agelessly (2011) is published by Vermilion.
1900 start
£7 on the door (£5 concessions and discount for members of Ethical Society, BHA, RA).
Carablanca Tango Club
1 June 2012
19.30 - 00.00
Carablanca is London's longest-running tango club. The friendly, informal atmosphere ensures that beginners and visitors mix easily with the regular dancers.
The dance evening is an Argentine milonga, preceded by a class. There are also classes for beginners in a separate room. Music is traditional Argentine tango, milonga and vals, played in tandas with cortinas by guest DJs.
TICKETS: price £10 for a class or dancing, £12 for both, paid on entry.
