The philosophical side in Batman, Frankenstein and Hamlet

EBarcelona Pensa is taking place this week in several locations of the city, and has more than thirty proposals to bring philosophy closer to people.
EBarcelona Pensa is taking place this week in several locations of the city, and has more than thirty proposals to bring philosophy closer to people.
Culture
(15/11/2016)

Batman, Frankenstein and Hamlet are part of the imaginary collective -everyone knows about them. What people might not know is that these three names are the characters of some activities in the philosophy festival Barcelona Pensa, which is taking place this week in several locations of the city, and has more than thirty proposals to bring philosophy closer to people.

 

EBarcelona Pensa is taking place this week in several locations of the city, and has more than thirty proposals to bring philosophy closer to people.
EBarcelona Pensa is taking place this week in several locations of the city, and has more than thirty proposals to bring philosophy closer to people.
Culture
15/11/2016

Batman, Frankenstein and Hamlet are part of the imaginary collective -everyone knows about them. What people might not know is that these three names are the characters of some activities in the philosophy festival Barcelona Pensa, which is taking place this week in several locations of the city, and has more than thirty proposals to bring philosophy closer to people.

 

On Wednesday at 19.30 h, Gigamesh bookstore (Bailen, 8) will hold the activity Els dilemes morals de Batman (Batmanʼs moral dilemmas) in which they will explain what a moral dilemma is, and will show and analyze some moral dilemmas that appear in the film. This idea comes up thanks to Stágeira group, which gathers a group of researchers interested in Aristotleʼs practical philosophy and its recovery in the field of contemporary philosophy. Margarita Mauri, professor of Ethics at the Faculty of Philosophy, coordinates the activity and says “it is interesting because all of us encounter moral dilemmas in our lives. Although they are probably not like the ones appearing on Batman films and books, it is very useful to understand what a moral dilemma is and learn how to identify it in the everyday life to face it better”. 

To celebrate that Mary Shelley wrote the first draft for Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus 200 years ago, Gigamesh bookstore will hold another activity on Thursday 17 at 19.30 h. Professors from the University of Barcelona Nemrod Carrasco (philosophy advisor in TV3 TV series Merlí) and Antonio Castilla (Miguel Moreyʼs disciple) will talk in the activity Frankenstein: Ecce Homo, about different factors related to this myth. They will talk, among other topics, about the ties between Frankenstein and philosophy, and will analyze differences between the literary character and the movie versions. Castilla says that “the Frankenstein we imagine is not the one in the novel but the film character. I will analyze how the big screen is able to make such an impact and will go over the different cinema versions according to the world historical context: we donʼt have the same Frankenstein in the 30s than in the 60s”.

Laura Llevadot, the one who created Barcelona Pensa festival in 2014, coordinates the activity Espectres de Hamlet (Hamletʼs ghosts), a proposal in which there are visual, poetic and philosophic registers, and which will take place on Thursday 1, at 20.30h, at Sala Gabriel Oliver room in Josep Carner building of the University of Barcelona (Aribau, 2). Llevadot, together with the actress Laura Cuervo and professors of Spanish Studies Virginia Trueba and Ana Vidal, created a show on spirits, childhood, craziness and lucidity, with extracts of this work by Shakespeare, texts by Leopoldo Maria Panero and Jacques Derrida, among others, as well as from the films El desencanto (1976) and El arrebato(1979). After the show there will be a colloquium with the attendants.    

Barcelona Pensa remembers Leibniz

On Wednesday 16 at 12 h, in an activity in the Aula Magna of the Historical Building, the festival brings the versatile figure of Leibniz: distinguished philosopher, known mathematician and inventor of infinitesimal calculus and librarian in Hannover, who died 300 years ago, on November 14, 1716. “This activity aims to be a little homage to -probably- the last worldwide genius in all time, for after him it is hard to find another figure who has made so many contributions in so many diverse disciplines” says Carlos Dorce, professor at the Faculty of Mathematics, and coordinator of the event.   

 

Silliness as a political factor

Maurizio Ferraris will give a conference in Arts Santa Monica, tomorrow at 18h. Human beings are essentially (and not by accident) stupid, unarmed animals, bereft of sense (in-baculum) and therefore, needs tools such as techniques, culture, art, and science, basically what we call the world of ideas. These are dual tools, on the one hand they balance humansʼ deficiencies and on the other they show everything as it is. “¡Muera la inteligencia! ¡Viva la muerte!” (Death to intelligence, long life to death) is what José Millàn-Astray y Terreros shouted on October 12, 1936 to the philosopher Miguel de Unamuno. Enough proof that silliness is something serious.