Loneliness and Health

Loneliness and Health

A Seminar with Lars Svendsen 

The UCD Centre for Ethics in Public Life (CEPL)

Online Seminar: March 30th at 1pm 

Please register here for the seminar: (opens in a new window)Loneliness and Health Seminar

Loneliness is a difficult subject to address because it has such negative connotations in our intensely social world. Yet, although loneliness is a pervasive experience it is not one readily discussed. You can be lonely sitting in the quiet of your home, in the still of an afternoon park, or even when surrounded by throngs of people on a busy street. One need only turn on the radio to hear a crooner telling us just how lonesome we can be. In his ground-breaking book A Philosophy of Loneliness, philosopher Lars Svendsen confronts loneliness head-on, investigating both the negative and positive sides of this most human of emotions.

Drawing on research in the fields of philosophy, psychology and the social sciences, Svendsen explores the different kinds of loneliness and examines the psychological and social characteristics that dispose people to them. Svendsen looks at the importance of friendship and love, and he examines how loneliness can impact our quality of life and affect our physical and mental health.

Lars Svendsen is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Bergen, Norway. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling A Philosophy of Boredom (2005) and A Philosophy of Lying (2022). 

For inquiries contact Fiona Lavin, UCD Centre for Ethics in Public life ((opens in a new window)Ethics.cpd@ucd.ie)