The Berry Lectures in Public Philosophy

With the generous support of the Berry Fund, The Vanderbilt Philosophy Department is sponsoring a series of lectures in public philosophy in the spring of 2012. These talks are free and open to the public. Each lecture features a Vanderbilt Philosophy faculty member speaking on a topic of perennial importance. The lectures are designed to be accessible and engaging to a general audience. Each lecture will be short (30 minutes at most), after which the floor will be open for questions and discussion. The aim of the series is to stimulate philosophical reflection and conversation.

All sessions meet 7:00 – 8:15pm
Furman Hall, Room 114
Free and Open to the Public

 

Monday, March 11

Larry May, Can War be Justified?

War and other forms of armed conflict involve the intentional killing of many people, combatants as well as civilians. For several millennia, philosophers have debated whether something that in everyday life would normally be instantly recognized as unjustified could nonetheless be justified in war. The classic arguments talk about how war is sometimes necessary to prevent even greater tragedies than the killing that war inevitably involves. And the killing of soldiers in particular has been justified by claims that they have forfeited their rights by joining the military. But many have not been persuaded, only some of whom are pacifists.

Monday, March 18

Lisa Guenther, Is Solitary Confinement a Living Death Penalty?

In recent years, several states have abolished the death penalty, and other states seem to be moving in the direction of abolition. Sentences of life without parole are now common replacements for death sentences, and long-term solitary confinement is an increasingly popular instrument for controlling prison populations. Yet there is good reason to think that long-term solitary confinement has debilitating psychological effects which render people unable to engage socially. So if capital punishment has been replaced by a sentence of life without parole in a system where long-term solitary confinement is increasingly common, have we truly abolished the death penalty? Or have we replaced it with a form of living death?

Monday, March 25

W. James Booth, Can the Dead Be Harmed?

Can the dead be harmed? One on account, to be dead is to cease to have any existence whatsoever, and therefore to have no interests, feelings or hopes that could be thwarted or harmed by others. Counter- arguments advance claims that the dead or their interests do persist, and so can be wronged. These debates are of importance across a range of concerns. Do we actually owe something to our beloved family dead, for example devotion, remembrance or compliance with their will as it was when they were alive? Is doing justice to the deceased victims of past injustice something we owe them, such that if we failed in this we would further injure them? During this presentation, I will sketch and weigh some responses to these questions, and underline their importance for our everyday lives.

For further information, contact the Vanderbilt Philosophy Department: (615) 322-2637