Special Talk by George Lakoff Monday, April 25 at 5 p.m.

The Department of Linguistics and the Cognitive Science Program in collaboration with the units listed below

Announce a Special Presentation by

George Lakoff

Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics

University of California, Berkeley

Monday, April 25, 2011

5:00 p.m.

The University of Arizona Main Campus

Harvill Building, Room 150

1103 E 2 St

Tucson, AZ 85721

How Progressives and Conservatives Think Differently:

Understanding the Current Political Conflict in America with Suggestions for a Saner Politics

Progressives and conservatives have very different moral worldviews, conflicting ideas of what is right and wrong — worldviews that cover many areas of life and go well beyond particular issues like guns and immigration. For reasons that are far from obvious, these differences are dominating our political life and surface in violent forms of language, and unfortunately, violent actions.

It is vital that we understand the principles (and there ARE principles) governing these worldviews and hence our political life. The issues in Arizona arise from the same source as the issues in Wisconsin, Ohio, and California, and the current debates in Congress. It is also vital to understand the role that language and communication play in our politics via the framing of issues.

An important phenomenon rarely discussed is “duality,” where people have both worldviews applying to different issues: they are conservative in some ways and progressive in others. Understanding how duality works in the brain is crucial to the development of a saner politics at all levels.

Support for this presentation has been provided by the following:

Office of the Vice President for Research, University of Arizona's Confluence: A Center for Creative Inquiry, College of Education, College of Science, School of Information Sciences, Technology and Arts, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Anthropology, Department of Philosophy, College of Humanities, Department of Psychology, Department of History, Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, Department of Communication, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, School of Government and Public Policy, Department of English, Department of Sociology