Wasch Center Seminars

Self-evident Truths?

In the Declaration of Independence, America’s 18^th-century Founders, inspired by the European Enlightenment, designated certain truths as “self-evident.” They then invoked those truths as the justification for an uprising, issuing a call to arms against a monarch whom they accused of trampling on the colonists’ “unalienable rights.” Their idea of entrusting governmental power to the people—however defined—represented a bold proposition in an era of widespread autocratic rule. In our own times, we can no longer expect consensus on any set of truths or rights. Yet we still yearn for certainties on which to base our commitments and our relationships to each other and the environment. During the year in which the U.S. will mark its 250^th anniversary as a nation, join us in exploring where some certainties may still be sought—in nature, in history, in the arts, in notions of the sacred, and yes, in our bruised but indomitable aspiration for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Richard Friswell and Krishna Winston 
Wasch Seminars Co-directors