Photo of a child holding father's hand

Faculty Work-in-Progress Lecture—“To Be Held and to Be Seen: Love Isn’t Practical”

The Baker-Nord Center for Humanities will host a Faculty Work-in-Progress lecture exploring human understanding and development of love Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 4:30 p.m. Jeremy Bendik-Keymer, the Elmer G. Beamer-Hubert H. Scheider Professor in Ethics, will discuss Martha Nussbaum’s developmental work and unpack the concept of human connection during the lecture. 

In “To Be Held and to Be Seen: Love Isn’t Practical,” Bendik-Keymer will discuss the “moral core to love” as it was introduced by Berkeley philosopher Niko Kolodny in 2003. Bendik-Keymer will analyze Kolodny’s view of love as a practical matter consisting of evaluative judgments relative to the convention-busting, sometimes immoral idea of love personified by characters such as Bonnie and Clyde. To explore these motifs, Bendik-Keymer will focus on the developmental work of Martha Nussbaum in Upheavals of Thought, where the need to be held and to be seen forms the child’s capacity to connect with others and the world in what she calls “original joy.” 

Due to social distancing requirements, this Faculty Work-in-Progress lecture will be presented via livestream.

Learn more about the event.