"The Ethics of Uncertainty"
A book talk and discussion with author Stephen Batchelor
In-person and online!

Friday, September 12th
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm EST

The New School University
In the City of New York

Last February, Stephen Batchelor was a virtual panelist in our co-sponsored hybrid conference, "Psychedelic Buddhism 2025," where he presented, “Psychedelics and the Middle Way: An Ongoing Journey," an essay drawn from his book, The Art of Solitude (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020.)

Psychedelic Sangha and the Religious Studies Program at Eugene Lang College, The New School University, welcome back Stephen Batchelor to discuss his new book Buddha, Socrates and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2025).

This book talk and discussion will focus on the challenges of pursuing an ethical life in the contemporary world when confronted with conflicting religious and secular visions of what such a life should be.

By returning to Socrates and the Buddha, two of the foundational figures in the ethical traditions of Europe and Asia, respectively, we will consider how their insights into what constitutes human flourishing continue to challenge and inspire us today.

STEPHEN BATCHELOR is a writer, translator, teacher, and artist. Born in 1953, he was ordained as a Buddhist monk at the age of twenty-one and spent ten years training in the Tibetan Geluk and Korean Sŏn orders. In 2015, he co-founded Bodhi College, a European educational project dedicated to the understanding and application of early Buddhism. Author of the bestselling Buddhism without Beliefs (Riverhead), his most recent publication is Buddha, Socrates and Us (Yale University Press). He lives in south-west France with his wife Martine.

Please register here on this page for live synchronous and recorded asynchronous online streaming access only.

Registration for in-person attendance is separate and free of charge; however, you must RSVP through the New School platform, where you will also receive venue details.