The biannual Food and Philosophy lecture series occurred on Oct. 4. Over 130 people filled the Maloney Room on to hear Brian C. Partridge, professor of psychology at Kenai Peninsula College lecture about the decision making capacities in adolescents and the implications they have in the medical and legal communities. Partridge said that the medical community and the legal community are drawing two incompatible conclusions from the same data.

This is an especially salient issue for students because most of the student body is just leaving adolescence and are expected to be able to function as responsible adults.

Philosophy professor Mark Cherry is responsible for putting together the Food and Philosophy lecture series.

“Our students should be aware of these things,” Cherry said. 

The event examined the issue of how to treat adolescents in medical and legal situations. Some argue that adolescents are comparable to adults when it comes to making decisions and so should be treated as adults. Others argue that adolescents lack vital decision-making skills that would enable them to make decisions like adults, so they should not be treated as adults in medical and legal situations.

Partridge’s lecture covered numerous aspects of the decision-making process as well as the areas of the brain involved in that task and how they affect a person’s ability to make decisions. He tied that research into the development of the adolescent brain to show the gap between an adult’s ability to make decisions and an adolescent’s ability to do so.

“His perspective on it was really interesting,” said Rebecca Thomas, junior philosophy major.

The Food and Philosophy lecture series is a biannual event, with one speaker in the fall semester and a second speaker in the spring semester. The series offers students and faculty a chance to hear a visiting scholar discuss various issues and the philosophical implications behind them. 

Cherry said that he had yet to pick a topic or speaker for the spring lecture, but it will likely deal with an issue in medical ethics and public policy. So keep an eye out for the spring installment of Food and Philosophy. The event is usually held in the Maloney room on the third floor of Main Building. Even if the philosophy isn’t enough to pique your interest, perhaps the free food will be enough of an incentive to check it out.