Sam Harris Series | Episode 4: The Power of Conversation
Friday August 23 at 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT
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Regan Arntz-Gray, who’s been hosting a Sam Harris podcast discussion group for the past 6 years, is hosting a 4-month Interintellect Salon series on his body of work.
Episode 4: The Power of Conversation
Sam Harris is known for having diverse and difficult conversations with many people he disagrees with. While he doesn’t believe one has an obligation to, or even ought to, platform anyone in particular, he has been a consistent defender of free speech and the open marketplace of ideas. This all works as intended when we assume that our interlocutors are seeking the truth and that they share similar understandings of how to evaluate arguments and what type of evidence is considered valid. We’ll discuss the potential limits of discourse and whether one can use conversation to effectively interact with others who don’t share these liberal values. And we’ll consider how an information environment that promotes the most emotionally salient content over all else makes this more difficult.
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In this salon series, we’ll traverse through the thought-provoking and diverse work of Sam Harris. We’ll examine the central claims made in his books as well as through his body of work as a public intellectual. This series will include four salons, each focused on one major topic or group of issues to which Sam has contributed atheism and critiques of Islam, morality and cultural relativism, free will and spirituality without faith, and the transformative power of discourse.
For each topic, we’ll discuss Sam’s central claims, any questions they stimulate, and where they might require updating or recontextualizing for 2024. We’ll cover content discussed in several of his books, including The End of Faith, Free Will, Waking Up, The Moral Landscape, and Lying, so some pre-reading is helpful but not at all necessary.
In each salon session, expect thought-provoking discussions, speculative inquiries, and a deep dive into Harris’s intellectual legacy. Bring your questions and curiosity as we embark on these constructive discussions, and I expect we’ll all come away with some new insights on these important topics!
This event will be recorded.
