Join us for a weekend of free day time talks as part of the Oxford Think Festival.
About this Event
Saturday 9th – Thursday 21st November
Oxford University Press is delighted to once again partner with Blackwell’s Oxford to host a weekend of talks and discussions and present the Oxford Think Festival.
Celebrating the quest for knowledge and seeking to stimulate discussion of some of the big issues and ideas of our time, the festival brings together some of our most inspiring and exciting minds. Join us for a full weekend of debates and discussion, a preview event with Jon Davis & John Rentoul on the legacy of the Blair government, and a special World Philosophy Day event with Richard Swinburne.
All events are free to attend, but registration is strongly recommended.
Saturday, 16th November, 1pm – Quassim Cassam in conversation with Grant Bartley on ‘Vices of the Mind: From the Intellectual to the Political’
What are ‘vices of the mind’? Why are they important? Quassim Cassam introduces the idea of epistemic vices, character traits that get in the way of knowledge, such as closed-mindedness, intellectual arrogance, wishful thinking, and prejudice. Using examples from politics to illustrate the vices at work, he considers whether we are responsible for such failings, and what we can do about them. Key events such as the 2003 Iraq War and the 2016 Brexit vote, and notable figures including Donald Trump are analysed in detail to illustrate what epistemic vice looks like in the modern world.