Philosophy Festival : Entangled Lives

When we think about nature, oftentimes we imagine fauna and flora, long walks in the forest, and nature films about different corners of our planet. Inevitably, the image of human damage to nature looms large. On the one hand we confine it to an area the size of a postage stamp, and on the other we are faced with extreme temperatures and devastating natural disasters . What if we tried to adopt a radically different relationship with life on earth? In this lecture, biologist and historian Merlin Sheldrake will discuss his research on fungi, a form of life that is intertwined with everything surrounding us. The study of this neglected realm of organisms has far-reaching implications for our understanding of what nature is and how we humans relate to it. These and other philosophical questions are central to a reflection on what we can learn from fungi.

The evening will begin with the lecture by Merlin Sheldrake, followed by a response by Kristien Hens (UA) and a Q&A between the author and Liesbeth Schoonheim (KU Leuven). The event will be English-spoken, but subtitled in Dutch.