The Faculty of Letters public lecture series was held again in the 2019 academic year as an endowed lecture series by Kyokuto Securities Co., Ltd. The common theme is "The World Opened Up by the Faculty of Letters." Featuring a lineup of lecturers specializing in philosophy, history, and literature, we will explore the breadth of the fields covered by the Faculty of Letters together with the audience.
The first session, "Is Immortality Desirable?," was held on June 29 at the North Building Hall on the Mita Campus. Following an address by Yoshimitsu Matsuura, Dean of the Faculty of Letters, a lecture was given by Dr. Ikuo Suzuki, an alumnus of the Faculty of Letters' Major in Philosophy and an Associate Professor at Nihon University's College of Humanities and Sciences. Although many "deaths" are considered harmful, this does not necessarily mean that immortality is desirable. So, in what sense can it be said that "immortality is undesirable"? Dr. Suzuki, who specializes in analytic philosophy, used immortality as an example to clearly explain what kind of discipline philosophy is. While critically examining the arguments of the British philosopher Bernard Williams, Dr. Suzuki concluded that the reason immortality is undesirable is that the value of life is significantly diminished because "life continues no matter what you do" (the infinity of life). After the lecture, a lively and open Q&A session was held with the audience on topics ranging from the content of the lecture to the broader fields of philosophy and ethics, and even the appeal of Keio University. The public lecture concluded successfully.