The Dilemma Series, co-curated by Ian Olasov
Room: Information Commons Room 4, 1st Floor
From 8PM to 11:30, this iconic Night in the Library annual series returns with a group of philosophers examining some of the quirkiest or most troubling problems of our times.
8:00, Ian Olasov: My neighbor’s “In this house, we believe” yard sign is well-intentioned but performative. Am I right that it’s annoying?
8:30, Anna Gotlib: A close family friend is dying. How do I talk to my elementary school-aged kids about death without lies or fairy tales?
9:00, Christina Weinbaum: A longtime friend is successful, in a happy relationship but has come out as autistic. Are they exploiting a serious psychiatric condition? What to do when we suspect a mental disorder is fake?
9:30, Ben Abelson: I’m wary of turning my social media feed into an echo chamber. But every time I try to view conservative news, it makes me angry. Can we escape the echo chamber without hurting ourselves?
10:00, Ethan Hallerman: I’m Jewish, finding myself at odds with relatives over Gaza. Their dismissal of thousands of deaths is wrong, and I don’t want to see them, but it feels wrong to upend life-long relationships over a politics. What is one to do?
10:30, Damion Scott: Most of my friends make more money than I. Every suggestion they make to get together involves expensive events. It feels inconsiderate, but I don’t want to be a bore. How do I navigate friendship over an income gap?
11:00, Ignacio Choi: I’ve lived in my neighborhood for a long time. But it’s gotten whiter and more expensive. Some changes I resent and some I appreciate. What should I learn to live with, and what should I fight against, and how?
Ian Olasov is a public philosopher based in Brooklyn. His research is on changing people's stereotypes, moral discourse, the philosophy of journalism, and the theory and practice of public philosophy. He is the author of Ask a Philosopher: Answers to Your Most Important and Most Unexpected Questions (St. Martin's: 2020) and a co-editor of A Companion to Public Philosophy (Wiley: 2022). He is the founder of Brooklyn Public Philosophers and the president of the Public Philosophy Network. He currently teaches philosophy at NYU and holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the CUNY Graduate Center.
Ben Abelson is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Mercy University. His Ph.D. Is from The CUNY Graduate Center and his research interests include Philosophical Psychology, Philosophy in Popular Culture, and Friedrich Nietzsche studies.
Damion Kareem Scott is an adjunct lecturer in Philosophy at Fordham University and a Doctoral candidate at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Scott's research is in Social Philosophy, Metaphysics, Aesthetics, and Non-Western Philosophy.
Travis Timmerman is associate professor, and chair, of the philosophy department at Seton Hall University. He works in ethics and the philosophy of death.
Christina Weinbaum is a professor of philosophy at CUNY City College and recent graduate of the CUNY Graduate Center. She's passionate about philosophy of psychiatry, reading Japanese literature, and more recently hosting PowerPoint parties.
