Solomon to explore anatomy of human destructiveness

Professor of Psychology Sheldon Solomon will deliver the seventh annual Jon Ramsey lecture, titled "The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness," at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, in Gannett Auditorium of Palamoutain Hall. Hosted by Skidmore's Honors Forum, the talk is free and open to the public. 

Solomon will present an existential psychodynamic account of human cruelty and violence based on Ernest Becker's claim in The Denial of Death that the uniquely human awareness of death gives rise to potentially overwhelming terror. Cultural worldviews that afford a sense of meaning and value in pursuit of literal and symbolic immortality help assuage this fear. Solomon will describe empirical research in support of this view, and consider the personal and interpersonal implications of these ideas.

An experimental social psychologist, Solomon is interested in the nature of self, consciousness, and social behavior. His work exploring the effects of the uniquely human awareness of death on individual and social behavior has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Ernest Becker Foundation and was featured in the award-winning documentary film Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality. He is co-author of In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror (2003, American Psychological Association Books) and co-founder of The World Leaders Project.

Solomon is a fellow in the American Psychological Society and the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, a 2007 recipient of an American Psychological Association Presidential Citation, and 2009 recipient of a Lifetime Career Award by the International Society for Self and Identity.

A faculty member has been invited to give the annual Honors Forum Lecture since it was launched in 1999. The talk was re-named in honor of Jon Ramsey in 2004 following his retirement. Ramsey served Skidmore for 28 years as an English Department faculty member, associate dean of studies and director of student academic affairs, and dean of studies. He was largely responsible for shepherding both the Honors Forum and the Office of International Programs into being.