Lecture series kicks off with evolution

QUEENSBURY, New York (Sept. 14, 2021) — Andrew Costa, professor of Philosophy at SUNY Adirondack, will present “Philosophy after Darwin” at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22, in Miller Auditorium, Dearlove Hall, on the college's Queensbury campus. 

The presentation is part of SUNY Adirondack’s College Lecture Series and is sponsored by the college’s Professional Development Committee. The public is invited and admission is free. The talk will last about an hour with time for questions.

Before Darwin’s demonstration of evolutionary processes, it was generally held that order and complexity in the natural world was derived from antecedent essences, a concept that all things are part of a comprehensive “blueprint” or “schematic” to which reality conforms. 

The implications of evolutionary theory reverse this approach. For the past 150 years, a new view of how things come into being has emerged that rejects the idea that things must adopt a form consistent with all other possible structures that exist. This was as much a revolution in metaphysics and epistemology as it was in biology: The blueprint was thrown away and, instead, reality improvises.

Costa earned a Ph.D. from SUNY Albany. He is a professor of Philosophy at SUNY Adirondack, where he has been employed since 2003. He served as division chairperson of both the Humanities and the Social Science divisions. His areas of research include ancient and contemporary metaphysics, epistemology, social contract theory, logic and philosophy of religion. 

The College Lecture Series offers talks by SUNY Adirondack faculty and staff on a variety of topics and contemporary issues. Upcoming presentations include: "Landscape and Memory" by Katherine Patterson, adjunct professor of Drawing and 2D Design, at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20; "What Are Concepts For? Part 2" by Robert Faivre, professor of English, at 12:40 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15; and a talk with Diane Bargiel, a retired associate professor of Music, at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8.

For more information, contact series coordinator Jeevan Gurung at cls@sunyacc.edu.