Automation and Utopia

Human obsolescence is imminent. We are living through an era in which our activity is becoming less and less relevant to our well-being and to the fate of our planet. Technology is replacing us in this role. This trend toward increased obsolescence is likely to continue in the future, and we must do our best to prepare ourselves and our societies for this reality. Far from being a cause for despair, this is in fact an opportunity for optimism. Harnessed in the right way, the technology that hastens our obsolescence can open us up to new utopian possibilities and enable heightened forms of human flourishing.

This event is being held in conjunction with Café Culture North East.

John Danaher is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway. His work has appeared in The Guardian, Aeon, and The Philosophers’ Magazine, and his latest book Automation and Utopia: Human Flourishing in a World Without Work was published last year. @JohnDanaher

Brian D. Earp is a philosopher and cognitive scientist. He is Associate Director of the Yale-Hastings Program in Ethics and Health Policy at Yale University and The Hastings Centre and a Research Fellow in the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford. His latest book Love Is the Drug: The Chemical Future of Relationships was published last year.  @briandavidearp











When: Tue., Nov. 3, 2020 at 2:00 pm

Human obsolescence is imminent. We are living through an era in which our activity is becoming less and less relevant to our well-being and to the fate of our planet. Technology is replacing us in this role. This trend toward increased obsolescence is likely to continue in the future, and we must do our best to prepare ourselves and our societies for this reality. Far from being a cause for despair, this is in fact an opportunity for optimism. Harnessed in the right way, the technology that hastens our obsolescence can open us up to new utopian possibilities and enable heightened forms of human flourishing.

This event is being held in conjunction with Café Culture North East.

John Danaher is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway. His work has appeared in The Guardian, Aeon, and The Philosophers’ Magazine, and his latest book Automation and Utopia: Human Flourishing in a World Without Work was published last year. @JohnDanaher

Brian D. Earp is a philosopher and cognitive scientist. He is Associate Director of the Yale-Hastings Program in Ethics and Health Policy at Yale University and The Hastings Centre and a Research Fellow in the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford. His latest book Love Is the Drug: The Chemical Future of Relationships was published last year.  @briandavidearp

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