Perspectives from An Atheist Philosopher and a Christian Theologian
What is a well-lived life? How do we decide if our choices are worthwhile or good? Examining the assumptions we have about life can help us to start to answer these questions. In this forum two well-respected scholars with vastly different worldviews discussed how their assumptions lead to their distinctive understandings of our historical, personal, and public selves.
The discussion was held on May 5th, 2014, at the Stanford Faculty Club.
Video
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The Speakers
N.T. Wright
N.T. WRIGHT is one of the world's leading Bible scholars and currently serves as the Chair of Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews. He taught New Testament Studies at Cambridge and Oxford University for twenty years, and has authored many award-winning books, including The Case for the Psalms, How God Became King, Simply Jesus, After You Believe, Surprised by Hope, Simply Christian, Scripture and the Authority of God.
Kenneth Taylor
KENNETH TAYLOR served as chair of the department of philosophy at Stanford University from 2001 to 2009 and specializes in the philosophy of language and the philosophy of mind. He has authored two books, including Reference and the Rational Mind and Truth and Meaning: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Language. He co-hosts the radio program Philosophy Talk: The Program that Questions Everything -- Except Your Intelligence with fellow philosopher Professor John Perry.
Moderator: Rev Scotty McLennan
SCOTTY McLENNAN is the Dean for Religious Life at Stanford. He has degrees in divinity and law from Harvard, is ordained to the ministry (Unitarian Universalist) and has been admitted to the Massachusetts bar as an attorney. He has taught various undergraduate courses at Stanford as well as at the Graduate School of Business ("The Business World: Moral and Spiritual Inquiry Through Literature"). His primary research interests are in the interface of religion, ethics and the professions. Dean McLennan is the author of several books, including Finding Your Religion: When the Faith You Grew Up With Has Lost Its Meaning (Harper San Francisco, 1999) and Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All (Palgrave Macmillan 2009)."