The abrasiveness of the modern political arena will be the focus of the fall 2019 Applied Philosophy Lyceum at MTSU.

Robert Talisse, chair of Vanderbilt University’s philosophy department, will speak about “Overdoing Democracy: The Problem of Political Polarization” at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, in Room 160 of MTSU’s College of Education building.

In his new book “Overdoing Democracy: Why We Must Put Politics in Its Place,” Talisse posits that the much-ballyhooed talent of “reaching across the aisle” to obtain political consensus is overrated.

Dr. Robert Talisse

He asserts that politics has infiltrated every social, cultural, business and athletic aspect of our everyday lives to such an extent that democracy is actually undermined, not bolstered.

Talisse’s suggestion to mitigate the friction is to create public spaces where people can come together without regard to political leanings. In short, he proposes venues and activities where politics is neither promoted nor suppressed, but simply irrelevant.

As Vanderbilt’s W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy, a post he has held since 2015, Talisse researches democracy, pluralism, liberalism and public reason, specializing in contemporary political philosophy. (His TEDx talk on “Putting Politics in Its Place” can be seen below.)

The Applied Philosophy Lyceum, which was conceived with Aristotle’s Lyceum in mind, was created in 1992. The public lecture aims to stimulate private reflection and public reasoning. Over the years, topics have ranged from environmental ethics to theories of love and friendship.

This event is sponsored by the MTSU Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and is free and open to the public. A searchable campus parking map is at http://bit.ly/MTSUParkingMap. For more information, contact the department at 615-898-2907.

— Gina Logue (Gina.Logue@mtsu.edu)