Mid: Good For Good Reason - Mark Thompson
Thursday, February 4, 2010, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Michigan State University Union, Third Floor, Lake Ontario Room, E. Lansing, MI, View on Map
Presented by Mark Thompson
Description
Morality is often placed as being the province of religion with philosophy holding a distant second. Often atheists and humanists are accused by religious believers of being without morals or just filing the serial numbers off from religious ethical codes and declaring them secular values. On the other side are atheists and humanists that declare morality a social construct that has no hold on human behavior and that all acts are neutral with their consequences determined by each society’s view not objective reality.
Learn how science, history and philosophy show the roots of human behavior and the development of moral thought and action. Find out about the distinctions between morality, mores and folkways and how they are intertwined into our modern discussion of “what is right.” Finally learn about how others have developed naturalistic codes or guidelines for living with others without having to fall into either supernatural absolutism or moral relativism.
About the Speaker
Mark Thompson graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University with a degree in Computer Science. He spent ten years as communications and computer systems policy analyst modeling those system designs and operations.
His experience with the technical and organizational errors that plagued such systems led him back to school and the acquisition of a dual degree in Psychology and Sociology from Maryville University. Mark then graduated from Saint Louis University with a Master’s in Organizational Psychology with a focus on research methods. His lifelong interest in how humans really think and act (versus how they think they do) has led him to the Skeptical outlook and research on how to develop and apply it to everyday life
Additional Details
Students from other area campuses are invited to attend.
Cost: $6.00 general admission. Free for Friends of the Center and students.
Contact: Christian Orlic,
