Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
2025-2026 Membership is now Open for Registration.
The Great Philosophers
Speaker
Professor Peter Bolland
Coordinator
Steve Clarey
In this continuing Osher lecture series, we join philosophy professor Peter Bolland for another engaging and vivid exploration of 20 of the most influential philosophers in the Western tradition, from Socrates to Camus. His first lecture in the series on Socrates (on July 2024) is available in the online Osher video library. Each lecture and discussion session is designed as a stand-alone event, but in sequence they are even better, as connections and intersections come to life. Don't miss this opportunity to study the greatest wisdom traditions in the Western worldview.
January 5: Rene Descartes
In the study of the great philosophers of the Western tradition, few can match the powerful impact of French scientist, mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650). Known as the father of modern philosophy, he shifted the focus from metaphysics to epistemology. He posed an all-important question: how can you describe the known without understanding the knower? Descartes deconstruction of classical metaphysics laid the foundation for modernity. Join us as we follow Descartes' groundbreaking methodology and explore his revolutionary insights.
February 2: Spinoza
A Sephardic Jew of Portuguese ancestry, Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) was born in Amsterdam. Often at odds with the Rabbis of his own immigrant community, he wrestled with ideas of God, meaning and the universe in startling and influential ways. Arguing for an absolute monism, he believed that God was simply the name of the energy that binds everything together—a kind of pantheism—thus sealing his enemy status in both Jewish and Christian circles. He took full advantage of the liberal intellectual climate of the Netherlands to further pursue his ideas and change the course of Western religion and philosophy.
February 23: John Locke
Preeminent among the British Empiricists, John Locke (1632–1704) offered a bracing alternative to the earlier rationalist philosophy of Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza. Unlike rationalism, which argued that knowledge was best built on a foundation of innate or a priori ideas, Locke argued that empirical or sense experience was our sole means of apprehending the world; the ideas in our head were a posteriori, built on perception of the external world. Furthermore, and probably more germane to our everyday lives, Locke famously championed the idea of natural rights, including the right to private property—a notion that would transform the world.
January 5: Rene Descartes
In the study of the great philosophers of the Western tradition, few can match the powerful impact of French scientist, mathematician and philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650). Known as the father of modern philosophy, he shifted the focus from metaphysics to epistemology. He posed an all-important question: how can you describe the known without understanding the knower? Descartes deconstruction of classical metaphysics laid the foundation for modernity. Join us as we follow Descartes' groundbreaking methodology and explore his revolutionary insights.
February 2: Spinoza
A Sephardic Jew of Portuguese ancestry, Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) was born in Amsterdam. Often at odds with the Rabbis of his own immigrant community, he wrestled with ideas of God, meaning and the universe in startling and influential ways. Arguing for an absolute monism, he believed that God was simply the name of the energy that binds everything together—a kind of pantheism—thus sealing his enemy status in both Jewish and Christian circles. He took full advantage of the liberal intellectual climate of the Netherlands to further pursue his ideas and change the course of Western religion and philosophy.
February 23: John Locke
Preeminent among the British Empiricists, John Locke (1632–1704) offered a bracing alternative to the earlier rationalist philosophy of Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza. Unlike rationalism, which argued that knowledge was best built on a foundation of innate or a priori ideas, Locke argued that empirical or sense experience was our sole means of apprehending the world; the ideas in our head were a posteriori, built on perception of the external world. Furthermore, and probably more germane to our everyday lives, Locke famously championed the idea of natural rights, including the right to private property—a notion that would transform the world.
Speaker Bio
Presenter: Peter Bolland is professor of philosophy and humanities at Southwestern College, where he has taught world religions, Asian philosophy and world mythology for over 30 years. The author of The Seven Stone Path: An Everyday Journey to Wisdom, he is a frequent speaker at lifelong learning communities and spiritual centers around the country. Learn more at www.peterbolland.com.
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