Conversation with Author Seth Zuiho Segall and Rabbi Les Bronstein
Tuesday, December 5th, at 7:00 p.m.
Auditorium

Come to this dynamic conversation to hear about Zen priest and clinical psychologist Seth Zuiho Segall's new book, The House We Live in: Virtue, Wisdom and Pluralism. He will be interviewed by Rabbi Les Bronstein of Congregation Bet Am Shalom in White Plains.

About The House We Live In: Virtue, Wisdom, and Pluralism

The values of liberalism, pluralism, and democratic governance are under sustained attack from right-wing Christian fundamentalists, white ethnonationalists, and economic populists. At the same time, liberal democracies are failing at cultivating and transmitting the values, wisdom, and virtues that are the prerequisites for individual and collective flourishing. Liberal democracies seem increasingly unable to negotiate diverse visions of the good life rooted in regional, ethnic, racial, religious, generational, and socioeconomic differences. Aspiring autocrats and media organizations exploit these divisions to enhance their power and profit resulting in increased tribalization and affective polarization.

Solving these problems requires a renewed understanding of human flourishing and the wisdom and virtues that make it possible. The House We Live In explores the commonalities underlying three classical approaches to virtue ethics—Aristotelean, Buddhist, and Confucian—to develop a contemporary flourishing-based ethics capable of addressing the problems of liberal democracies. The book examines the moral and intellectual virtues that promote flourishing, the diversity of ways in which we may flourish, and the factors all flourishing lives share. It shows how a flourishing-based ethics can serve as a corrective to the historical Western overemphasis on individualism at the expense of community. Finally, it addresses problems in domestic and foreign policy and the difficulties in talking to each other across the political divide from a flourishing-based perspective. The book is a reaffirmation of pluralism, the liberal democratic tradition, and the necessity of a pragmatic approach to living together despite seemingly incommensurable differences.

About Seth Segall

Seth is a clinical psychologist who served on the faculties of four universities including nearly thirty years on the clinical faculty of the Yale University School of Medicine. He is also an ordained Zen Buddhist priest who leads Pamsula Zen of Westchester and teaches at the New York Insight Meditation Society as well as monthly Lunchtime Meditation sessions at the White Plains Public Library. Seth’s other publications include Encountering Buddhism: Western Psychology and Buddhist Teachings (2003), Buddhism and Human Flourishing: A Modern Western Perspective (2020), and Living Zen: A Practical Guide to a Balanced Existence (2020). Seth is a contributing editor to Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, a review editor for The Humanistic Psychologist, and the science writer for the Mindfulness Research. His blog (existentialbuddhist.com) contains essays on Buddhist topics. He is currently writing the encyclopedia article on Buddhism and Western psychology for the St. Andrew’s University’s Encyclopaedia of Theology.