Students are invited to attend the Philosophy Conference and Forum on the topic of “The Moral Challenges of Nietzsche’s Nihilism.” It will be held at South City Campus on Mar. 27 in the Multi-purpose Room at 6 p.m.
The conference will include presentations from International Ph.D. students that are experts in the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Hedwig Gaasterland from Leiden University in The Netherlands and Michiel Meijer from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Salt Lake Community College alumni and graduate student of Philosophy Betty Stoneman will also be presenting. The presentations will be followed by an intensive Q&A session to get SLCC students involved with the discussion and a chance to discuss their interpretations of Nietzsche.
Dr. Alexander Izrailevsky is a professor of philosophy at SLCC and the founder and main proponent of the philosophy conferences that have been held at SLCC for the last fourteen years. This year the theme deals with what Dr. Izrailevsky believes to be important moral problems in our society.
“What is Nihilism? It is the absence of moral values,” says Izrailevsky. “It is a cynical approach to life and unfortunately it is a growing issue. We have a lot of practical, unfortunately, negative implications of this cynical approach to moral values like growing depression amongst some groups of our young generation – violence, crimes, low work ethics and many other issues.”
Nietzsche, in his writings, often described the growing nihilistic behaviors in society and the problems that it can present. Ironically, he has often been described as a Nihilist himself. The presentations will go into detail about how Nietzsche’s writings about Nihilism can be interpreted and how it could be possible to help with what some think is a problem in society today.
Dr. Izrailevsky says that just because students of SLCC may not be able to afford or attend other colleges or universities in the area, doesn’t mean that they are getting a lower level of education at SLCC.
“I believe we have amazing students. I believe we have amazing faculty and I believe we can provide to our students education of international standards,” says Izrailevsky. “If you are smart enough to use the educational opportunities, both in class and outside of the class, our college can provide this to you.”
Dr. Izrailevsky believes that this conference can put SLCC students in the highest standards of education and the presenters can represent academic role models for students.
The conference is open to anyone and it is free of charge.
