Alt tag
Philosophy in the Community is held on Friday nights at The Refinery.

Philosophy in the Community: Role Models: A Really Bad (Faith) Idea

Should anyone strive to be a role model to others and should anyone have a role model whom they seek to emulate?

Event

This community lecture and discussion series is organized by the Department of Philosophy to share the rewards and pleasures of philosophical reflection.

Friday, Dec. 14
7–9 pm
The Refinery, Emmanuel Anglican Church Basement
609 Dufferin Ave.

Info: emer.ohagan@usask.causask.ca/philosophy/community

Role Models: A Really Bad (Faith) Idea
by Leslie Howe (Department of Philosophy)

Many people, particularly athletes, are encouraged or even required to be role models. Often a misdeed by a prominent sportsperson is decried as especially wrong just because of their place in the public eye, even though the same action by a private person might pass without comment. Do sportspersons, just because of their celebrity, have an obligation to be better than the rest of us? Should anyone strive to be a role model to others? Should anyone have a role model whom they seek to emulate? What would that mean? I shall argue that the conventional understanding of a “role model” is not very coherent, and that either having or being a role model in the usual sense is an exercise in bad faith that is morally problematic for the admirer and frequently destructive for the role model.


Upcoming Events

Enfilade

May 16 - Aug 29, 2025
Anne Low creates sculptural forms, often using techniques and methodologies associated with histories of decorative arts and domestic interiors

Ta̱wi’stalisa̱la (To Walk Around the World): Reclaiming the Intangible

May 16 - Aug 29, 2025
Marianne Nicolson's work negotiates the complex dynamics between visibility and invisibility

8th Metropolis Identities Conference

Oct 29-30, 2025
Department of Sociology professor Dr. Kara Somerville (PhD) co-chairs this Saskatoon conference on reaffirming Canada

 

See all events