Title
Phenomenology of Nature
Description
Video recording of a lecture delivered on September 20, 2024, by Ryan Shea as part of the Formal Lecture Series.
Ryan Shea taught at Providence College for eight years, including courses in philosophy of science, environmental philosophy, and nature writing. His research weaves together ancient philosophical biology (especially Aristotle), the scientific revolution, phenomenology, German idealism, and Goethean qualitative science. His main project is to learn what it might look like to read the “book of nature” in a participatory, contemplative, phenomenological, and poetic fashion.
Ryan Shea offers this description of his lecture: Edmund Husserl inaugurated the modern discipline of phenomenology with the rallying cry, "back to the 'things themselves'." And yet, when reading the works of phenomenologists, one might reasonably worry that we have bracketed the natural world, that we have left out precisely the "things themselves." This talk pursues two distinct, yet intertwined, questions. We begin with Socrates's central question (ti esti), "What is phenomenology?" This leads to our central concern, "How might we practice a phenomenology of nature?" The work of the poet, scientist, painter, and dramatist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe will serve as a guiding light.
Ryan Shea taught at Providence College for eight years, including courses in philosophy of science, environmental philosophy, and nature writing. His research weaves together ancient philosophical biology (especially Aristotle), the scientific revolution, phenomenology, German idealism, and Goethean qualitative science. His main project is to learn what it might look like to read the “book of nature” in a participatory, contemplative, phenomenological, and poetic fashion.
Ryan Shea offers this description of his lecture: Edmund Husserl inaugurated the modern discipline of phenomenology with the rallying cry, "back to the 'things themselves'." And yet, when reading the works of phenomenologists, one might reasonably worry that we have bracketed the natural world, that we have left out precisely the "things themselves." This talk pursues two distinct, yet intertwined, questions. We begin with Socrates's central question (ti esti), "What is phenomenology?" This leads to our central concern, "How might we practice a phenomenology of nature?" The work of the poet, scientist, painter, and dramatist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe will serve as a guiding light.
Creator
Publisher
Coverage
Annapolis, MD
Date
2024-09-20
Rights
A signed permission form has been received stating: "I hereby grant St. John's College permission to: make a recording of my lecture, and retain copies for circulation and archival preservation at the St. John’s College Greenfield Library; make a recording of my lecture available online; make typescript copies of my lecture available for circulation and archival preservation at the St. John’s College Greenfield Library; make a copy of my typescript available online."
Type
moving image
Format
mp4
Language
English
Identifier
LEC_Shea_Ryan_2024-09-20_ac
Original Format
mp4
Duration
01:07:38