Dr. Abdul Ansari, postdoctoral fellow, University of Notre Dame, will speak at 4:00. This event is open to the public.

Abstract:  I aim to tease out and reject the influential idea that valuing is analogous to aesthetic contemplation. According to the picture, we appropriately value things just by appreciating the reasons why they are admirable and otherwise good in some deeply significant way, much as we value beautiful objects by appreciating the reasons why they are beautiful. In this talk, I start to sketch an alternative approach, motivated by two ideas about valuing the people we love. First, that valuing the beloved as we should depends on our history and relationship with them, and, second, that a contemplative notion of valuing undermines the value of how we relate to the beloved.