» Humanomics Alumni Colloquium

“Meaningful Economics” 

October 27 – 28, 2023 

Registration is now closed.

The Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy invites all Humanomics alumni to participate in a weekend colloquium on “Meaningful Economics.”  We will discuss concurrently the 2022 novel Pure Colour by Sheila Heti and Bart Wilson’s book manuscript “Meaningful Economics.” If Prof. Wilson marked up your essays as a student, this is your opportunity to provide feedback for him on his project. The colloquium is made possible by a grant from the Templeton Foundation. Travel stipends of $200 are available for local alumni and $750 for non-local alumni. Travel stipend applications are included on the registration form. Pure Colour and Meaningful Economics will be provided.

Economics has a problem, Wilson claims.  It cannot distinguish the causes of human action from the consequences of human action. It models representations of optimal agents, not flesh-and-blood human beings in ordinary life. Meaningful Economics is about understanding the principles of economics—the exchange of goods and services, the specialization that trade makes possible, and the system of property that undergirds both—in their origins and outcomes rather than exclusively in their consequences.  It explains the roots of conduct, and not merely its economic effects, by going to the human capacity for moral feeling and thinking that prompt human beings to act. 

Pure Colour is “an atlas of feeling.” It explores the mystery of consciousness with a mix of realism and surrealism, philosophy and fable, dialogue and myth, creating a unique and refreshing literary experience.  Color and feeling are both pure in the sense of being essential and fundamental to the world, intense and vivid to the experience of being human, and original and unique to the individual.  How can the study of economics put human feeling on equal footing with knowing, thinking, and wanting, to make it all at once ethical, psychological, sociological, and anthropological?

The core of a Humanomics colloquium lies in civil discourse and a commitment to read all materials in advance. Please plan to bring your books to the discussion and to be present and on time for all sessions.

Schedule (Wilkinson Hall 221, Chapman University)

Friday, October 27, 2023

5:00 Drinks followed by Dinner – Downtown Orange, CA

Saturday, October 28, 2023

8:30 – 9:00 Coffee

9:00 – 10:30 1st session – Meaningful Economics, Part I (Discussion leader: Gus Gradinger)

10:30 – 10:45 Break 

10:45 – 12:15 2nd session – Pure Colour (Discussion leader: Jan Osborn)

12:15 – 1:30 Lunch (Bring your ideas for themes and texts for the Spring 2024 colloquium.)

1:30 – 3:00 3rd session – Meaningful Economics, Parts II & III (Discussion leader: Cindy Rivas)

3:00 – 3:15 Break 

3:15 – 4:45 4th session – Meaningful Economics, Part IV (Discussion leader: Josey Dunbar)

5:00 Drinks followed by Dinner - Downtown Orange, CA

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Merrill at memerrill@chapman.edu.


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2023 Spring

Humanomics Alumni Colloquium

“Justice and Evil: Mitigating the Human Condition” 

March 31, 2023 – April 1, 2023 

Registration is now closed.

The Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy invites all Humanomics alumni to participate in a weekend colloquium on “Justice and Evil.”  We will discuss concurrently Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men, C. Fred Alford’s What Evil Means to Us and a chapter by F. A. Hayek entitled “The Quest for Justice.” The colloquium is made possible by a grant from the Templeton Foundation.

Through his interdisciplinary approach Alford constructs an analysis and argument for the nature of this thing we call “evil.” His is an unusual argument which states that evil is an experience of dread. This surprising and—at first encounter—unsatisfying description of evil is analyzed through the lens of Alford’s many interviews with inmates, college students, and young professionals. What Evil Means to Us provides an original, multifaceted, and accessible account of the mysterious force behind “bad” actions. Alford believes that through both understanding and accepting the philosophical and psychological phenomenon that is evil, we can better mitigate it in ourselves and recognize it in others. 

Rose’s classic play Twelve Angry Men gives legs to the theoretical work of Alford as twelve jurors discuss whether or not the alleged crime of a sixteen-year-old boy should result in corporal punishment. Through the points made and prejudices held by twelve randomly selected men, we observe the seeds of evil not only in the alleged criminal but also in the “ordinary individuals” selected to decide his fate. 

Hayek’s three-volume series Law, Legislation and Liberty explores the nature of what a society is, how best to create order within it and what kind of laws create actual freedom for citizens. For our purposes “The Quest for Justice” will provide a practical framework for what we do in a world of evil and relative morality. What is the responsibility of the individual? What is the responsibility of the state? What is the interaction between ethics, evil and exchange? How does one mitigate evil in the human condition? 

The core of a Humanomics colloquium lies in civil discourse and a commitment to read all materials in advance. Please plan to bring your books to the discussion and to be present and on time for all sessions.

Schedule (Wilkinson Hall 221, Chapman University)

Friday, March 31, 2023

6:00 Dinner – Super Antojitos (642 West Capman Avenue, Orange, CA 92866)

Saturday, April 1, 2023

10:00 – 10:30 Coffee

10:30 – 11:45 1st session – What Evil Means to Us, C. Fred Alford

11:45 – 1:45 Lunch 

2:00 – 3:15 2nd session – Twelve Angry Men, Reginald Rose

3:15 – 3:30 Break

3:30 – 4:45 3rd session – “The Quest for Justice”, Law, Legislation, and Liberty, Vol. 2, F. A. Hayek

6:00 Dinner - Bosscat Kitchen (118 W Chapman Ave, Orange, CA 92866)

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Merrill at memerrill@chapman.edu.