Two book launches and an award presentation were some of the highlights during World Philosophy Day celebrated at StFX on Thursday, November 21st.
The event featured the official presentation of the Fr. Charles R. MacDonald Memorial Medal in Philosophy to recent graduate Ken Matheson (BA 2023) and the launch of two books by Philosophy Department faculty members, Professor Louis Groarke (Uttering the Unutterable: Aristotle, Religion, and Literature) and Professor William Sweet (Before and After Democracy: Philosophy, Religion, and Politics).
First celebrated in 2002 and formally established by UNESCO in 2005, World Philosophy Day is celebrated annually on the third Thursday in November across Canada and around the world and features a range of activities: philosophical debates and discussions, cultural events, conferences, workshops, awards, and book fairs and book launches. UNESCO established the day to recognize the value of philosophy for the development of human thought, cultures, and individuals, to promote the teaching of philosophy, and to encourage people to think collectively about the future of humanity.
Students, faculty, administrators, and members of the local community joined not only to celebrate but also to discuss some of the principal issues raised by Professors Groarke and Sweet in their books. The event also featured creative contributions from emcee, StFX Vice President Finance and Administration, Monica Foster.
Dr. Groarke’s book raised issues in the philosophy of literature, discussing contemporary movements in literary criticism and the philosophical roots of these critics, as well as providing an approach to literature and literary criticism influenced by the 4th century BCE Greek philosopher, Aristotle.
Dr. Sweet’s book brought together some of his own work as well as essays of leading international scholars from Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Israel, Iran, China, India, and Thailand. It focused on the development of democracy, on the influences of religion on that development, but also on how democracy and democratic values have or could have a place in a range of major world religions today.
Dr. Sweet says former diplomat and United Nations official Dr Irina Bokova, points out that “Philosophy, the exercise of critical thought and freedom of expression, is vital in the search for lasting responses to the challenges of peace and development.” Similarly, according to current UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, “In order to build a better world, to move towards an ideal of peace, we know that we must adopt a philosophical approach – namely, we must question the flaws of our world, beyond the tumult of crises. Philosophy is therefore essential when it comes to defining the ethical principles that should guide humanity.”
