It is a cliché about philosophers that they ponder the meaning of life. They don’t.

In the David Norton Memorial Lecture, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 16 in the University of Delaware’s Gore Hall, Kieran Setiya, professor of philosophy from MIT, will deliver a lecture titled “Absurdity and Meaning.” The lecture will begin at 3:30 p.m. in room 103 of Gore Hall.

The Norton Lecture is presented by UD’s Department of Philosophy. Setiya uses the surprisingly recent origins of “the meaning of life” to argue that the question of life’s meaning does make sense. He relates this question to the problem of life’s absurdity, explaining how it could have a positive answer — even if there is no God — and how the answer depends on us.

In modern philosophy, the process of putting forth a question or theory includes the practice of statements, called premises, that work together to support a conclusion. There can also be post-posit “objection.” This process can be well-served in a lecture setting with an audience. Setiya’s lecture will offer this process in a public forum as a lecture and a question-and-answer session between audience and lecturer, and then a reception in the lobby where all may continue the conversation.

Joel Pust, chair of UD’s Department of Philosophy, shared that the department and the committee that chooses the speaker and the topic take very seriously the David Norton Memorial Fund’s unusual guidance that the lecture should be presented “in a manner accessible to the general University of Delaware community.” It has resulted in the committee’s deliberate and conscious choosing of accessible speakers and questions, with the perhaps unconscious result that the lectures can be seen as torn from the current headlines and remain relevant when viewed in the rearview mirror. Consider these recent titles: 2019’s "Philosophical Foundations for Migration Law," the Fall 2018 "Never Ending News," and Spring 2018 "International Territorial Rights: An Institutional Account." Pust recalled a very well-attended lecture of spring 2002 from speaker Peter Singer of Princeton University titled “Ethics and the Global Community.”

The David Norton Memorial Lecture honors the memory of the late UD philosophy professor, presenting contemporary work by leading figures in philosophy. Norton was considered a pragmatist in his practice, working primarily in value theory, with a special focus on the nature of the “good” life and “good” society and a special interest in the value and importance of education, truly carrying out the pragmatic practicing of “the love of wisdom.” Alan Fox, professor of philosophy and colleague of Norton, described Norton as an inspirational figure in his early career path. Fox tells about the charismatic professor’s last days, steadfastly saying goodbye to one and all in the offices of UD. “He had great integrity. In the end, he lived his life according to his principles,” Fox said.

The endeavor and process of philosophy, from the Greek, meaning “the love of wisdom,” reminds all to do as the ancients advised: Live an examined life worth living.