The Life of the Mind

The Life of the Mind is an annual, year-long lecture and seminar series for U-M faculty, graduate students, and especially undergraduates. This project asks the big questions of existence: Why is the natural world so beautiful? Why does it have an intelligible order? Why is there a world at all? Are the powers that gave rise to the universe impersonal, indifferent, amoral – or not? If everything has a cause, does that mean there is a cause of all causes? The Life of the Mind series is also concerned with personal, meaning-of-life questions that might be postponed for a time but never eradicated completely: Why are we here? Why must we die? How shall we live? Why are we drawn to the virtues of truth, moral goodness, and aesthetic beauty? What insights does modern science have for these age-old mysteries? In short, the Life of the Mind series is devoted to contemplation of some of the most important questions ever asked.

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Each semester begins with a public lecture delivered by a prominent academic followed by two seminars. Each semester has its own theme: “Arts” in the Fall, “Sciences” in the Winter. Lectures and seminars are presented by thinkers from a range of disciplines and institutions including the University of Michigan. Lectures are public, open to anyone from the university, local community, or anywhere. Seminars provide dinner and discussion and are limited in size to facilitate conviviality in a spirit of intellectual freedom and mutual respect. All seminar attendees must register in advance and receive official confirmation and seminar readings.

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As our chaotic society reels from one crisis to another, our students suffer from the absence of contemplative thinking among friends. The Life of the Mind provides a place where Wolverines can do that thinking and make those friends – including faculty members who themselves wrestle with foundational questions. This series, then, hearkens back to the original idea of the academy as a place where teachers and students gather to investigate meaning beyond the hurly-burly of everyday life.