Lessons from Howard Thurman’s Philosophy of Life

Speaker: Darian Spearman

Bio: Darian Spearman is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Gonzaga University. His research interests include Africana Philosophy, Ecophilosophy, Philosophy of Myth, and Philosophy of Religion. His work appears in Philosophy and Global Affairs and the American Philosophical Association’s Black Issues in Philosophy Blog.

Abstract: Howard Thurman is well known for his spiritual and intellectual significance to the Civil Rights Movement as well as his influence on Martin Luther King Jr. However, it is only recently that the ecological dimension of his work has begun to be explored. This talk will explore how Thurman articulated his view that life is a process which best actualizes itself through communion as written in The Search for Common Ground. In this book, Thurman seeks to ground the Civil Rights Movement in a vision of life’s unity in response to the challenge of Black nationalism beginning in the 60’s. This talk will discuss the core themes of community, potential and unity as Thurman sees them in the biological processes of individual organisms and interspecies communion. These insights from Thurman will then be applied to dimensions of the contemporary climate crises such as eco-anxiety.