It’s easy to see how certain things depend for their existence on other, more fundamental things, like a molecule depends on its constituent atoms or a gaggle on its geese. But what would the world be like if everything were ontologically dependent on something else? Is there a coherent story to be told about an endless dependence chain? In this discussion, we'll explore a Buddhist anti-foundationalist metaphysical picture from the Middle Way philosophical tradition that challenges common assumptions about the structure of reality.

Dr. Allison Aitken is a Bersoff Faculty Fellow in the philosophy department at New York University. She specializes in Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy as well as early modern European philosophy. Her research centers on non-standard theories of relations and dependence structures in the history of metaphysics. After her time at NYU, she will join the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University as an Assistant Professor.

Join us on Thursday, April 22 from 7:00 to 8:00 PM ET

Zoom ID: 296 814 2250, Passcode: 43grx8

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2968142250?pwd=d0RpSWJMNXZSdjZNaFpiMEtpS0pMQT09