The Denver Project for Humanistic Inquiry

James Reid, Professor of Philosophy, MSU Denver
Paul Blaschko, Assistant Director at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study and Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow
Sarah Pessin, Interfaith Chair and Professor of Philosophy & Jewish Thought, University of Denver

Chair:
Caleb Cohoe, Associate Professor of Philosophy, MSU Denver and Lead Faculty Advisor, Mellon Philosophy as a Way of Life Project

Dr. Simon Critchley is among the most influential philosophers of our time. He is Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research, moderator for The New York Times' philosophy series The Stone, founder of the International Necronautical Society, and half of the band Critchley and Simmons. Join Dr. Critchley for a discussion on his most recent of many books, Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us.

In Tragedy, the Greeks, and Us, Critchley argues that tragedy articulates a philosophical orientation that challenges the traditional authority of philosophy by giving voice to what is contradictory, constricting, and limiting about human beings. In developing tragedy's philosophy, he turns to the ancient sophist Gorgias and the sophistical practice of antilogia, which examines both sides of an issue so as to make the weaker argument appear stronger. In addition to Gorgias, Critchley discusses Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, Aristotle, and others.

We are excited to host renowned philosopher Simon Critchley (Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research and moderator of The New York Times' philosophy series, The Stone) for this special screening of Terrance Malick’s epic masterpiece The Thin Red Line (1999).

It may come as no surprise to viewers of Malick’s work that he was himself a serious student of philosophy (first at Harvard, and then Oxford) before picking up a camera and becoming a filmmaker. This event offers a rare opportunity to explore the philosophical dimensions of one of his most celebrated films with one of today’s most celebrated philosophers.

The Thin Red Line follows the events surrounding the battle for Guadalcanal in November 1942, as the US Army fought its bloody way north across the islands of the South Pacific against ferocious Japanese resistance. It is war film. “But,” Critchley says “it is a war film in the same way that Homer's Iliad is a war poem. The viewer seeking verisimilitude and documentation of historical fact will be disappointed. Rather, Malick's movie is a story of what we might call 'heroic fact': of death, of fate, of pointed and pointless sacrifice. Finally, it is a tale of love, both erotic love and, more importantly, the love of compassion whose cradle is military combat and whose greatest fear is dishonor […] The ambition of The Thin Red Line is unapologetically epic, the scale is not historical but mythical, and the language is lyrical, even at times metaphysical."

Februrary 13th

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to view Pixar shorts from the last 30 years on the big screen, from Luxo Jr. (1986) to Bao (2018). Explore the evolution of Pixar films with Dr. Craig Svonkin, associate professor of English, Metropolitan State University of Denver. Svonkin will look at the technological advances and social and cultural changes that have shaped these innovative films.