The purpose of this series is to explore the relationship between world and word. Our emphasis will be on ancient texts—above all, Homer, Plato, and the Bible—but we will not shy away from the contemporary scene, in which it is sometimes claimed that both speech and its absence, silence, are violence and in which the use of “the wrong word” can lead to severe social, professional, and sometimes legal consequences.

After introducing the series, Joshua Katz (AEI) will lead a discussion of the relationship between language and creation in a number of ancient traditions, especially the Book of Genesis but also well beyond.

This event is co-sponsored by the Galileo Center at Columbia Law School and will be held in the Law School, room JG102B. It is the first in our Fall 2023 lecture series Language Rights and Wrongs.