Welcome Derrick Darby to Kenyon College for "Hip-Hop, Philosophy, and the (Broken) Social Contract" October 14 at 4:10 p.m. in Oden Hall's Archon Auditorium.
Philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke teach us that a social contract is the origin of political society. To escape the state of nature, which is detrimental to our self-preservation, we must relinquish our natural liberty and submit to the rule of political authority. But what if the government fails to fulfill its responsibilities to safeguard our basic rights and liberties? This lecture draws inspiration from Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Kendrick Lamar, and other rappers to understand this outcome and ways of responding to a broken social contract. We will listen to rap music in this hip-hop and philosophy lecture.
Darby is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He holds a BA from Colgate University and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Darby discovered his passion for philosophy growing up in New York City’s iconic Queensbridge housing projects. Darby is a dynamic teacher and passionate speaker as well as an accomplished scholar. Darby’s calling card is to harness the tremendous power of hip hop’s fifth element (knowledge) to empower his audiences to think critically and deeply about our world, the problems we face, and about ways in which we can work together to create a better world.
This event is sponsored by Phi Beta Kappa, the Provost Office, the Center for the Study of American Democracy and the Departments of Art History, Modern Languages and Literatures, Music, Studio Art, Political Science, and Philosophy.