Town Hall Seattle Arts & Culture Series

What exactly is art and why does it matter to us? Philosopher of the mind Alva Noë explores the answers to these questions, arguing that we need art and philosophy to fully understand human nature. After all, our modern way of life is permeated with the aesthetic––the arts are an integral part of every human culture on the planet. Our lives supply art with its raw materials, but art, Noë argues, remakes life by giving us resources to live differently. Because of this, Noë believes that art is the truest way of understanding ourselves. He suggests that neither biology, cognitive science, nor artificial intelligence can tell a complete story of us. In making these claims, Noë explores examples from his latest book, The Entanglement—in artworks and seeing, writing and speech, and choreography and dancing—and looks at a range of scientific efforts to explain what it means to be human. Through his work, Noë believes that natural science has its limits in fully understanding the human experience. He lays out the ar