Humanities Forum — Hanna Pickard

Evelyn Barker Memorial Lecture with Hanna Pickard
What Would You Do Alone in a Cage with Nothing but Cocaine? A Philosophy of Addiction
This event, rescheduled from February 23, is part of the Spring 2026 Humanities Forum

Addiction science is at an impasse. Rates of addiction remain high. Translational results from decades of research conducted within the dominant brain disease paradigm are shockingly meager. Meanwhile, theories of addiction multiply and compete, fomenting disagreement about something as apparently simple as how addiction should be defined. Ultimately the cost of this impasse is borne by people with addiction themselves. Drawing on philosophy together with sources ranging from the history of the science of animal models to the voices of people who live with addiction, Hanna Pickard presents a new paradigm that shifts our gaze away from a broken brain and onto the psychology and humanity of people who struggle with drugs.

Hanna Pickard is Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Bioethics and Krieger-Eisenhower Professor at Johns Hopkins University.

Admission is free, but reservations are encouraged. A reception will follow.

The Evelyn Barker Memorial Lecture is presented by the Department of Philosophy and the Center for Ethics and Values, and is co-sponsored by Dresher Center for the Humanities, the Center for Public Health Research, and the Human Context of Science & Technology Program.