The Epistemic Value of Live Theatre: A Dramatic Response to the Question of Knowledge

Presenter Information

Hannah Hicks

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

SURC 202

Start Date

16-5-2013

End Date

16-5-2013

Abstract

This presentation occupies a niche wedged between philosophy and art, exciting both the creative and inquiring mind. Drawing on both foundational and recent work in the philosophical study of knowledge and aesthetic theory, this paper synthesizes two fields within the humanities: epistemology and live theatre. This presentation challenges the academic barriers that keep philosophy and the performing arts from fully participating in interdisciplinary communication, and challenges the conceptual definition of knowledge itself. The aim is to promote recognition of the value in using that which is live, liminal, and personal in understanding the nature of knowledge. This can be achieved through exploring the ways in which the experiences of engaging with the fiction of live drama are a key to finding the missing element in the definition of knowledge. In exploring the collective views of specific, highly developed fields such as philosophy’s epistemology and art’s live theatre, an underutilized tool emerges: truth through fiction. This tool spurs the emergence of new societal and learning expectations and changes the face of academia in the process.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Gary Bartlett

Additional Mentoring Department

Philosophy and Religious Studies

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May 16th, 8:20 AM May 16th, 8:40 AM

The Epistemic Value of Live Theatre: A Dramatic Response to the Question of Knowledge

SURC 202

This presentation occupies a niche wedged between philosophy and art, exciting both the creative and inquiring mind. Drawing on both foundational and recent work in the philosophical study of knowledge and aesthetic theory, this paper synthesizes two fields within the humanities: epistemology and live theatre. This presentation challenges the academic barriers that keep philosophy and the performing arts from fully participating in interdisciplinary communication, and challenges the conceptual definition of knowledge itself. The aim is to promote recognition of the value in using that which is live, liminal, and personal in understanding the nature of knowledge. This can be achieved through exploring the ways in which the experiences of engaging with the fiction of live drama are a key to finding the missing element in the definition of knowledge. In exploring the collective views of specific, highly developed fields such as philosophy’s epistemology and art’s live theatre, an underutilized tool emerges: truth through fiction. This tool spurs the emergence of new societal and learning expectations and changes the face of academia in the process.