This is a past event
Part of the King's Museum lecture series.
Natural history museums often generate feelings of sadness, guilt, and remorse – for instance, about the loss of wildlife habitats and our role in bringing that loss about. Does it have to be this way? One alternative is for museum displays to encourage us to wonder at nature, as was common in the 17th and 18th centuries. In this talk Dr Lord will look at wonder in the museum and some philosophical approaches to it. We will see what 17th-century philosophers Rene Descartes and Baruch Spinoza thought about wonder and its connection to “cabinets of curiosity”, the museum-like collections that arose around that time. We will look at Spinoza’s alternative to wonder, joy, and ask how museums can help us to feel joyful about nature and our place in it.
Entry is free and open to all.
- Speaker
- Dr Beth Lord, University of Aberdeen
- Hosted by
- University Museums
- Venue
- New King's, room 10
- Contact