"The Good Life: Secular and Theological Perspectives" is a one-credit philosophy course for undergraduates this spring semester. The course has been planned and the readings selected by a group of undergraduates seeking to explore fundamental issues about the good life. It will culminate in afternoon and evening lectures on April 4 focusing on the virtues of hope and love as constituents of the good life. Prof. Laura Garcia and Prof. Dallas Willard, who will be lecturing on this occasion, are outstanding scholars in their philosophical specialties but also popular and effective speakers on issues that concern committed Christians. The lectures are aimed at a non-specialist audience and all are welcome to attend.
Laura Garcia, Ph.D.
Department of Philosophy, Boston College
"On the Virtue of Hope"
4 p.m., McKenna Hall Auditorium
Professor Garcia did her graduate work at the University of Notre Dame and currently teaches at Boston College. Her scholarly work has focused on distinctively Christian approaches to contemporary issues in ethics and metaphysics. She has also lectured widely on issues related to marriage and the family as well as Catholic feminism. Among her recent papers is "Sex and Conversation," her interpretive study of Pope John Paul II's views on gender, marriage and the body. Professor Garcia is a member of the Advisory Board of the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture.
Dallas Willard, Ph.D.
Department of Philosophy, University of Southern California
"On the Virtue of Love"
8 p.m., McKenna Hall Auditorium
Professor Willard's scholarly work focuses on topics in epistemology, the philosophy of mind and of logic, as well as on the philosophy of Edmund Husserl, many of whose works he has translated. He is also one of the most widely read and respected Christian apologetic writers among contemporary philosophers. His published work on religious topics includes most recently Renovation of the Heart , which was published in April 2002. He is also the author of many other spiritually edifying works including The Divine Conspiracy published in 1998 and selected by Christianity Today as their Book of the Year.
