Kwame Anthony Appiah, “Ethics Among the Humanities”

Please join the Office of the Chancellor and the Parr Center for Ethics for the inaugural Chancellor’s Lecture in Ethics: “Ethics among the Humanities” with Kwame Anthony Appiah, Professor of Philosophy and Law, NYU, and author of “The Ethicist” column in the New York Times.

“Ethics Among the Humanities”

Immanuel Kant wanted philosophy to take “the sure path of a science,” and he had a theory of what makes a scientific approach successful. No doubt there are philosophical questions that need to take account of the best science of our day, in physics, biology, economics, and psychology, for example. Ethics also profits from a dialogue with what used to be called the “moral sciences,” with anthropology, economics, psychology, and sociology. But it’s really important, too, to maintain contact with the arts and humanities. Poetry, fiction, biography, art, and music are not just materials for moral reflection. They are also sources of moral understanding, inspirations for moral action, and teachers of the sentiments that moral life requires. Philosophy, for this reason, needs to be able to engage in different moments with each of the disciplines. We need not the sure path of one science, but a difficult conversation among all the different kinds of systematic knowledge … and every area of human experience.

Thursday, September 15, 5:30 p.m., Kenan Theater at the Playmakers Repertory Company. Free & open to all!

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor and the Parr Center for Ethics.