UW News

April 20, 2011

Experimental social psychologist Sheldon Solomon to speak

Sheldon Solomon, professor of psychology at Skidmore College, will give a lecture titled John Lockes Errors: Why Left and Right Are Both Beside the Point at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, in 110 Kane.

Promotional notes say Solomon “will argue that contemporary liberal and conservative thought is directly and indirectly influenced by ideas of John Locke, based on erroneous assumptions about human nature, resulting in political philosophies that are … intellectually deficient and morally bankrupt.” Solomon then will “propose the rudiments of a political philosophy based on an evolutionary existential view of human nature and consider the implications of this perspective for domestic and foreign policy.”

Solomon is an experimental social psychologist, with interests focusing on the nature of self, consciousness, and social behavior. His work exploring the effects of the uniquely human awareness of death on individual and social behavior has been supported by the National Science Foundation and Ernest Becker Foundation and was featured in the award winning documentary film Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality. The lecture is free, and sponsored and hosted by the UW Department of Communication.