Science, art and the sacred

Controversial writer and philosopher Roger Scruton will appear in Leeds this month to discuss the relationship between science, art and religion at a major public debate.

Scruton is best-known for his views on music, the arts, aesthetics and contemporary political and cultural issues.  He will appear in a panel with Gregory Currie of the University of Nottingham and Gordon Graham of the Princeton Theological Seminary at the 'Science, Art and the Sacred' debate.

The event takes place:

On:  Wednesday 27 June 2012

At:  6pm

In:  Leeds Art Gallery

Add to Outlook calendar.

Attendance is free but spaces are limited and anyone wishing to attend should register their place in advance.

The debate is organised by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded project ‘Method in Philosophical Aesthetics: The Challenge from the Sciences’ and supported by the Royal Institute of Philosophy, the University of Leeds and the University of Nottingham.

The debate kicks-off a special three-day international philosophy conference (28 to 30 June) in Leeds where leading academics from the US and the UK will meet to discuss issues of philosophical aesthetics.

Matthew Kieran, Professor of Philosophy and the Arts at the University of Leeds, said, "Why do we like the art we do?  What makes our experiences with art special?  Philosophy or the sciences may give us the answers to these questions and more in the debate over the significance of art.

"Leeds is fortunate to have these leading philosophers here to discuss these issues, and in particular the ways in which they relate to other distinctive areas of human knowledge and experience - science and the sacred."

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