What is Ultimately Valuable?

September 27, 2017 

We spend our lives pursuing many things, such as love, money, pleasure, success, and comfort. Some of these things are clearly not valuable in their own right. Money, for example, is good only insofar as it buys us things, and most of the things we buy are, in turn, means of acquiring yet other things. This raises the question: Which things are ultimately valuable? Which things are valuable in themselves, apart from what they bring about? This session introduces some possible answers to this question. Perhaps feeling good (pleasure) is all that matters; or perhaps what really matters is getting what you want, whatever that happens to be. Alternatively, there might be many things that have intrinsic value, including pleasure, knowledge, relationships, and achievement. Determining which things are ultimately valuable is important for anyone who wishes to live a meaningful life aimed at things that actually matter.

Photos from this series can be viewed on Facebook and Flickr.

Meet the Speaker

Dr. Kiki Berk joined SNHU as an assistant professor of philosophy in 2012 after teaching for two years at Indiana University South Bend. She has developed two new courses at SNHU (Death and the Meaning of Life; Happiness and the Good Life) and co-developed a third (Food and Culture). In addition to these, she has taught Introduction to Philosophy, Introduction to Ethics, Introduction to Critical Thinking, and Religions of the World. In 2015, she was a finalist for SNHU’s Excellence in Teaching award. Dr. Berk was recently appointed as the Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics and Social Responsibility. 

Kiki was educated at the VU University Amsterdam, earning a Propedeuse cum laude (2001), an M.A. cum laude (2005), and a Ph.D. (2010)—all in philosophy. She was a visiting student in the Philosophy Department at the University of Notre Dame in 2005-2006 and Spring 2009.  

Kiki’s current research interests include value theory (especially happiness), analytic existentialism (especially the meaning of life), and the philosophy of death. She has given numerous conference presentations and published a number of articles, book chapters, and book reviews.  

Kiki is the Coordinator of the BA in Liberal Arts, a member of the School of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee, and a member of the University Committee on the Faculty.  

Kiki’s professional affiliations include the International Association for Philosophy of Death and Dying, the American Association of Philosophy Teachers, the North American Sartre Society, New England Public Philosophers, and the Northern New England Philosophical Association. 

Thank you to our generous sponsor for making this event possible!