How to really fight truth decay (with the help of a Superhero, Plato)
A talk by Matthew Pye: Head of Philosophy at the European School Brussels II & Founder of the Climate Academy & Author.
Auditorium, JRC Clubhouse, 1st floor, lspra, Tuesday 7 May 2024 at 18.00
From remote, ancient history, Plato stares at us, blank-eyed and aloof. However, behind his stoney appearance there is a lot going on. He suffered two terrible traumas as a teenager that smashed up his world. Both were caused by a casual or cynical attitude to the truth. In response, he set up the world’s first university in a familiar sounding suburb of Athens, “Academia”. A place of learning that was profoundly committed to truth and reality, beauty and justice.
He was a superhero: courageous and innovative. Just the sort of stuff we need in our modern educational systems to tackle the climate crisis.
This talk points at two leverage points that we have to achieve rapid and transformative change that is demanded by reality: 1) an injection of systemic level education and 2) advocacy for laws that are properly informed by science.
Plato played a fundamental role in human development, he can do so again. This is Plato Returns: The Fight Against Truth Decay.
Matthew Pye is the Founder of The Climate Academy (est. 2011) and has been Head of Philosophy at the European School Brussels II (since 2007). His book “Plato Tackles Climate Change” (2021) examines the blind-spots of democracy concerning the crisis, and points forward to the power of the key leverage point for change – education and the law. “Arendt Tackles Climate Change” (2024) will be out soon.
He also wrote “The Climate Academy Guidebook” (2022) as the central book for all the Climate Academies around the world (India, USA, Luxembourg, Belgium). As a public speaker, Matthew has given lectures at the EU Commission, Cambridge University, VU Amsterdam, other leading universities and many international schools. He featured in The Eurasian Media Forum (Kazakhstan, 2021), The NATO Youth Conference (2023), and the ZEG Storytelling Festival (Tblisi, 2023).
Poster of the event
