- September 20, 2011
- 12:01 am
- khustad
Seek the truth in things this evening
For many students, college is the busiest time of their lives thus far. They barely have time to think about getting through the day, let alone life’s big questions.
But on Tuesday, September 20, at 6 p.m. at the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA), students, faculty, staff, and the general public have a chance to take a break and contemplate life as Al Gini, professor of business ethics, reads excerpts from his book Seeking The Truth In Things: Confessions of a (Catholic) Philosopher. But this isn’t your ordinary philosophy 101 textbook.
The book, which reads like a memoir/philosophy/humor hybrid, is comprised of a series of essays, each tackling a different part of life and the questions that go with it. Gini says it is a “personal and intellectual memoir” about what caused him to fall in love with philosophy.
“The book is about what philosophy is, and the lessons that I have learned as a student of life and a student of philosophy,” he says.
But Gini doesn’t claim to have the answers. In fact, in the prologue of Seeking The Truth In Things he calls himself a “Catholic philosopher,” Catholic meaning universal (its adjective definition) because he writes he wants to “be open to understanding and appreciating all philosophies, not just defending one.”
As someone who fell in love with philosophy as an undergraduate student, Gini understands what it is like tackling these big questions at such a young age. However, Gini says students can find deeper meaning by looking at life through the philosophical lens, as long as they are willing to engage.
“There is something,” he says. “There is much to love, much to grasp. It is up to us to seek out.”
The discussion is free, but RSVP is encouraged. To do so, send an e-mail to luma@luc.edu. For more information on LUMA and its exhibitions or events, please click here.
