時間有沒有開端或終結？宇宙是無限大的嗎？它有沒有邊界？這些都是近代宇宙論中重要的課題，而研究這些問題所涉及的更是縱深的數學方法。然而，每當談起宇宙論，一般學生只會聯想到繁複的算式和符號，且望而生畏，因此錯失了思考「宇宙」這個大問題的機會。在霍金（Stephen Hawking）的《時間簡史》中，我們找不到繁複的數學算式，卻看到霍金以簡單、易懂的文筆，帶領讀者一步步進入最前緣的科學領域︰從最小的基本粒子到巨型天體—黑洞、從宇宙的起源至它的命運。在是次的通識沙龍中，講者除了介紹書中提及的重要科學理論，也會與聽眾討論這本已出版了20年的《時間簡史》在科學普及教育上的價值。 研讀書目：史蒂芬．霍金（著），許明賢、吳忠超（譯），《時間簡史—從大爆炸到黑洞》（台灣：藝文印書館，2000）。（英文原著：Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time.）

十九世紀的英國如日中天，社會全面發展，不限於科學和工業革命，人文藝術各方面也是人才輩出。倫敦雲集了大批士紳，應酬玩樂之外，亦時尚結社，鬧哄哄地討論著來自全世界的新知識；即使是學者發表成果的學術講座，會眾當中不分鴻儒白丁，也爭先恐後為要先聽為快。長期生活於這種氛圍的巴特勒 (Samuel Butler 1835 –1902)，是世家出身，卻生性叛逆，最恨人云亦云盲從信條的態度。《烏有之鄉》看似是不太嚴肅的作品，當中卻包含著他多年的哲思。筆下創造的烏托邦，不只是為了諷刺盲從信條的人們，更是要用來探討更嚴肅的議題，包括宗教信仰，科技發明，還有達爾文剛發表的演化論。

Shakespeare’s great tragedy still challenges us today, partly because it retains the force of a modern, “living” text, one that cannot be exhausted by historical understanding. Western readers still live and think within the moral space created by this drama, without being able fully to resolve the ethical conflicts that the play’s hero so keenly feels. Hamlet’s confrontation with questions of responsibility, suicide, and absurdity continue to haunt us. His failed moral struggle is heroic in a new sense that makes him a foundational figure of Western modernity. This lecture and discussion are designed to invite the audience into the text of Hamlet in order to trace its fateful departure from traditional concepts of the individual and society, and to see how it opened a path to new ways of thinking and feeling that characterize the post-Romantic age.

兩部史詩，突出兩個「英雄」。 一個挾其神族血統，兇猛、矯健、俊美，怒火能發不能收。為求得永恆的榮譽，那怕是離鄉早死、敵友同亡，都在所不惜。 一個只是謙謙凡人，俊美不足，卻能屈能忍。他憑著歷練的世故、智計、辯才，贏得人神眷顧；二十年不忘還鄉夢，神女美色、不死承諾都可放棄。 三萬行詩句，展現兩段心路歷程。 由這端到那端，兩個「英雄」對己對人有沒有新的認識？在心理和道德的層面有沒有絲毫成長。 從現代的角度看，穿插在兩段歷程中的「英雌」、老者、少年，是否也是個人物，甚或更有長進？ *Co-oganized with Bookclub 與讀書會合辦

While recognizing the fundamental importance of capital, labor, and the production of surplus value, Adam Smith and Karl Marx both struggle with existential questions about what it means to be human and about the nature of human flourishing.  Urgent questions erupt from their economic and historical models which both complicate and elucidate the elementary assumptions of each.  This talk will focus on unearthing those questions and examining their implications for our understanding of each author and of their impact on the development of political and social thought.  The talk will pay special attention to the coherence and continuities between the two thinkers.