Mary Midgely

by Ruth Barker, 19 Nov 2010

Hello,

I just got an email from the excellent Laura Simpson at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design to remind me that Mary Midgely is speaking tonight, in conversation with artist Paul Noble, at the University of Dundee.

This reminder wasn’t totally welcome as I’m Mary Midgely’s biggest fan but I can’t go! So I’m understandably gutted. Sigh. I’m pasting the info Laura sent below, so anyone who’s in the area please don’t miss this chance to hear one of the finest philiosophers of our age… And if you do go, write and tell me how it went. I think Midgely’s writing has had a huge influence on how I think about art and its relationships to people, to society, to thinking, and to culture. I read The Solitary Self a few weeks ago, and I’d recommend it to anyone as an example of generous and humane thought and imagination. And Hooray for that.

More later,
R.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place Leading philosopher Mary Midgley in conversation with renowned artist Paul Noble.

D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre, Tower Building, University of Dundee, Friday 19 November, 5.30pm.
Admission is free and there is no need to book
Chaired by Professor Nicholas Davey, Dean of the School of Humanities, University of Dundee

For the final public event of the year-long D’Arcy Thompson 150th anniversary events programme, the University of Dundee is hosting a fascinating evening of discussion on Friday 19 November featuring the eminent philosopher Mary Midgley in conversation with the acclaimed contemporary artist Paul Noble.

Mary Midgley has been one of the UK’s best known philosophers since her first book Beast and Man was published in 1978. Since then she has published numerous provocative and critically acclaimed works including Evolution as a Religion (1985), Science as Salvation (1992) and Science and Poetry (2001). Each offers a powerful critique of science’s claim to hold all the answers, which has led many to see science as the new religion. With great intelligence and wit, she has argued for the fundamental necessity of philosophy and the social sciences in understanding the human race, leading the Guardian to describe her in 2001 as “the most frightening philosopher in the country”.

Entering into what promises to be a fascinating discussion with Midgley is the artist Paul Noble, whose epic yet humourous works have been remarked upon as “a cross between Robert Crumb and Hieronymus Bosch” (The Guardian, 2008). First known as one of the founder members of the influential artists- run venue the City Racing Gallery in London (1988–98), Paul Noble has produced an extraordinary amount of work that combines meticulous craft with a political vision to produce a synthesis of drawing, architecture, philosophy and satire. Noble gained international recognition in the 1990s for his monumental ongoing project – the imaginative depiction of a fictional city called Nobson Newtown. Appearing as a bird’s eye view of urban devastation or ravaged forestry, Nobson Newtown conceals quotations from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat and T S Eliot’s The Wasteland and is represented through intricate pencil drawings, sculptures, tapestries, rugs and animations. Noble has exhibited works at numerous internationally significant venues including Tate Gallery, the Whitechapel Gallery and Gagosian Gallery, New York. His works are also held in the collections of Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art, New York and Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art.

D’Arcy Thompson argued strongly for the fundamental interdisciplinarity of science, the arts and humanities, and was as keenly interested in art, literature and philosophy as he was in science. This unique event, which will be chaired by the University’s Dean of Humanities and Professor of Philosophy Nicholas Davey, will pay tribute to D’Arcy’s influence and provide a truly stimulating meeting of minds.

The event begins at 5.30pm in the D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre in the Tower Building. Admission is free and there is no need to book.

Mary Midgley in conversation with Paul Noble has been jointly organised by the University of Dundee’s Museum Services, Exhibitions & VRC at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design and School of Humanities (Philosophy programme).

Enquiries: 01382 385 330 exhibitions@dundee.ac.uk exhibitions.dundee.ac.uk