Professor Kingwell teaches in the Department of Philosophy. He specializes in political and cultural theory, especially justice and citizenship, and related topics in the philosophy of art, architecture, and design. His recent graduate courses have included seminars on political and cultural theory as well as contemporary continental philosophy. For almost a decade he has taught a large introductory philosophy course as well as upper-level undergraduate courses in ethics, political theory, and philosophy of art. As part of the Trinity One program at the University of Toronto, he also teaches a limited-enrollment first-year seminar called Ethics and the Creative Imagination.
Dr Kingwell will be presenting a keynote on Happiness and the Art of Play
Presentation Abstract:
Happiness and the Art of Play
The art of play is the essence of life. We play to socialize with each other and the world around us. Play helps us to learn limits and establish purposes of playing such as to brainstorm ideas. Play is also spontaneous and transcendent of time allowing us to stretch our imaginations to a wide range of possibilities, but play can also be threatened by the interiorization of play which is between you and a computer screen. In this presentation I argue that the message of art is to live now because the ‘now’ reveals the most divine part of ourselves and the only game worth playing is the game of your life and mine. You should live your life like a work of art.
