The Spirit of Truth-Seeking I

Being Human invites local artists using any medium to capture “The Spirit of Truth-Seeking,” based on their experience of the Friday, Oct. 11 conversation among Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, and Cornel West *80, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy, Harvard University; Class of 1943 University Professor in the Center for African American Studies, Emeritus, Princeton University. Christopher L. Eisgruber ’83, Princeton University President, will provide a welcome and introduction.

Colleges and universities, especially those devoted to liberal arts education, are fundamentally concerned with the pursuit, transmission, and preservation of knowledge. They are, according to Professors George and West, “truth-seeking institutions.” In their dialogue, the professors will discuss the conditions that need to be established and maintained for colleges and universities to fulfill their truth-seeking mission. They will consider the virtues that must be exemplified and practiced by faculty and students alike if in the various fields of study the frontiers of knowledge are to be pushed back, understanding of complex matters is to be deepened, and wisdom is to be found.

Artwork from “The Spirit of Truth-Seeking I” will be displayed on Saturday, Dec. 7 through Saturday, Dec. 14 at the Arts Council of Princeton under “The Spirit of Truth-Seeking II.”

This event participates in the Being Human Festival 2019 of the Humanities Council.