Addiction science is at an impasse. Addiction rates remain high while results from decades of research conducted within the dominant brain disease paradigm remain shockingly meager. Meanwhile, new and conflicting theories of addiction disagree on how addiction should even be defined. 

Drawing on perspectives in philosophy, history, science, and people who live with addiction, Hanna Pickard will deliver the Class of ’55 Lecture on Friday, September 18 at 4:15 p.m. in Gore 104. This event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in the lobby of Gore Hall. 

Pickard’s talk, entitled “What Would You Do Alone in a Cage with Nothing but Cocaine? A Philosophy of Addiction” will present 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 Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Krieger-Eisenhower Professor at Johns Hopkins University. Her interdisciplinary work explores philosophical questions that arise out of clinical practice and related sciences. She is the author of articles in many philosophical and scientific journals, the editor of “The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Science of Addiction,” and the author of “What Would You Do Alone in a Cage with Nothing but Cocaine? A Philosophy of Addiction” (Princeton University Press, 2026).

The Fall 2026 Academic Lecture is hosted by the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences with financial support from the Class of 1955 Ethics Endowment Fund.