Harvard University Science Center, Lecture Hall D

(Cambridge, MA) The Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard and the Center for Naturalism are pleased to present “Religion as a Natural Phenomenon,” a lecture by Tufts philosopher Daniel Dennett, author of the recently published Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, on April 4, 7 pm. The lecture is free and open to all, wheelchair accessible, at the Harvard Science Center, Lecture Hall D, Harvard Yard, Cambridge. Dr. Dennett will be signing books after the lecture, and copies will be for sale in advance at the Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 800-542-7323 (not at the lecture). For further information call Greg Epstein, Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, 617-495-5986 or Thomas Clark, Center for Naturalism, 617-480-8846. 

Lecture description: Must we believe in belief?  Many suppose we must, so religion is accorded a special status in our culture, given a respect it may not deserve.  Philosopher Daniel Dennett casts a skeptical eye on the imagined virtues of faith, while exploring the biological and cultural origins of belief in the supernatural. To understand religion as a natural phenomenon challenges the unexamined presumption that it must be the foundation for ethics and meaning, and allows us to consider, from a more neutral and objective perspective, whether an empirical, naturalistic worldview might suffice for human flourishing. At a time when faith-based beliefs are driving much international and sectarian conflict, Dennett suggests we should break the spell religion has over us. 

About the speaker: Daniel C. Dennett is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He is author of many books, including Elbow Room, The Intentional Stance, Consciousness Explained, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Freedom Evolves, Sweet Dreams, and most recently Breaking the Spell: Religion As a Natural Phenomenon. He has written over two hundred scholarly articles published in journals ranging from Artificial Intelligence and Behavioral and Brain Sciences to Poetics Today and the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. He has received two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Science. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1987.

What: "Religion as a Natural Phenomenon": free public lecture presented by the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard (HCH) and the Center for Naturalism (CFN)
Who: Daniel Dennett, Tufts philosopher and author of Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon.
When: Tuesday, April 4, 7 pm
Where: Harvard Science Center, Lecture Hall D, Harvard Yard, Cambridge. Wheelchair accessible. For information call Greg Epstein, HCH, 617-495-5986 or Thomas Clark, CFN, 617-480-8846
Admission: free and open to all