Seminar Series
A central task of our project is to explore the prospects for defending a philosophically cogent theology of desire. Following the Workshop at UVA, the project launched its seminar series in Autumn 2019 to further facilitate this discussion. Starting with thinking more generally about the reason/desire relation as it applies in a moral context, we have progressed through the topic of desire and spiritual growth towards the examination of what it means to talk of a spiritual quest for God and how the ‘longing’ it involves is to be distinguished from that at issue in atheistic conceptions of spirituality.Held at Somerset House, these well-attended seminars gathered scholars from across London, and beyond, to explore the role of loving desire in the spiritual quest for God.
20 Feb 2020, 13:00 – 15:00University of Roehampton London, Roehampton Ln, London SW15 5PU, UK
The Spring series was due to take place at the University of Roehampton, but only the first was done on site because of the restrictions imposed by Covid-19. It was delivered by Simon Oliver on February 20th with a paper entitled Teleology, conscious intention, and the quest for God.
The second seminar on April 2nd was led by Clare Carlisle on Desire and devotion. This seminar was delivered as a Zoom session to an invited audience.
The final seminar with the title Doubting our desires was given by Jenny Leigh on April 30th also via Zoom to an invited audience.
