Lehigh University Philosophy Department

Philosophy Department
Thirty-Fifth Annual Selfridge Lecture
“Agency, Self-Authorship, Belonging: Principles for a Publicly Justifiable Criminal Code”

Alan Brudner, Albert Abel Professor Emeritus of Law and
Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto

Tuesday, April 16, 2019
6:30 P.M.
Linderman Library 200

In this talk, I’ll present a Hegelian view of the general principles that ought to, and that for the most part do, guide liberal-democratic states in deciding what sort of conduct to criminalize. I’ll then derive from this view a justification for criminalizing certain kinds of harmless conduct between consenting adults, taking polygamy pure and simple as an example of such a kind. By polygamy pure and simple, I mean the voluntary, contemporaneous marriage between one person and more than one other person, disentangled from the harmful conduct often associated with polygamy but that is separately criminalized. Many believe that bans on polygamy pure and simple are explicable only in terms of legal moralism. And so, it is thought, once the liberal state rejects legal moralism as being incapable of providing a public justification for so-called morals offences, it has no other publicly justifiable ground to stand on when called upon to justify criminalizing harmless polygamy. Without such a ground, polygamy bans seem as vulnerable to the liberal juggernaut as bans on homosexual acts and refusals to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. I resist that conclusion. Abandoning the ground of legal moralism does not mean stepping into a normative vacuum with respect to all cases of harmless conduct between consenting adults. There is, I’ll argue, a public justification for a ban

On Saturday, the Lehigh University Center for Ethics held its third Undergraduate Ethics Symposium, with students from CAS, RCEAS, and CBE presenting. Awards were given for best presentation by college and two grand prizes were awarded for best overall presentations.

Grand Prize: Patricia Sittikul (Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science)
Grand Prize: Harry W. Ossolinski (College of Arts and Sciences)

Best Presentation, CAS: Courteney Shakia Parry
Best Presentation, CBE: Julia May
Best Presentation, RCEAS: Andrew Goldman

The Center for Ethics is funded in part by the ENDOWMENT FUND for the TEACHING of ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING.

For further information, contact the Director of the Center for Ethics, Professor Robin Dillon ([email protected])

On Wednesday, March 20, Alexander Haitos delivered a talk titled "Everyday Aesthetics, Everywhere Process: The Promise of A.N. Whitehead's Radically Empirical Metaphysics” to a full house at Lehigh's Humanities Center. Dr. Haitos earned his B.A. in philosophy at Lehigh University and his Ph.D. in philosophy at Texas A&M University in August 2018.

On Wednesday, March 20 at 4:10 pm in Lehigh's Humanities Center there will be a talk by Lehigh graduate Alexander Haitos, titled "Everyday Aesthetics, Everywhere Process: The Promise of A.N. Whitehead's Radically Empirical Metaphysics”

Alexander Haitos earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Texas A&M University in August 2018. His research interests span the history of philosophy, focusing on metaphysics, process philosophy, and American philosophy. His dissertation offered an interpretation of Alfred North Whitehead’s metaphysics grounded both in William James’s radical empiricism and in the aesthetic dimension of Whitehead’s own thought. Dr. Haitos currently lives and works in New Haven, CT.

Sponsored by the Philosophy Department @ Lehigh University. All are welcome

For more information contact Donna Wagner, [email protected] , (610) 758-3775

Check out the Lehigh Undergraduate Ethics Symposium happening this Saturday!

Spread the word!

https://lu-ethics-symposium.cas2.lehigh.edu/

Initiation ceremony for Phi Sigma Tau (PST), the philosophy honor society, led by Lehigh philosophy student Zachary Sokol and Professor Robin on November 28, 2018.

There are a number of undergraduate diversity institutes in philosophy. These institutes operate independent of one another, but share the overarching goal to encourage and support undergraduates from underrepresented groups in philosophy. Each institute normally accepts 10-20 students per year.

The information below is updated regularly, but be sure to consult the websites of the individual institutes for the most up-to-date information.

Undergraduate Diversity Institutes in Philosophy - The American Philosophical Association There are a number of undergraduate diversity institutes in philosophy. These institutes operate independent of one another, but share the overarching goal to encourage and support undergraduates from underrepresented groups in philosophy. Each institute normally accepts 10-20 students per year.

Undergraduate Ethics Symposium April 8 2015.
Visit the Symposium website: https://lu_ethics_symposium.cas2.lehigh.edu/
Join the Twitter discussion: https://twitter.com/luethics

"An Utterly Unique Understanding of Kant"

News Article Eckart F�rster, who delivered the 30th annual Selfridge Lecture in Philosophy, teaches philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and also at Humboldt University in Berlin.

Just a reminder to everyone:

Eckart Förster, Professor of Philosophy, German, and the Humanities at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and Honorary Professor of Philosophy at the Humboldt University, Berlin will give the 30th annual Selfridge Lecture in Philosophy, “A Defense of Idealism”, tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Sinclair Auditorium.

We also wanted to remind everyone of the department's Second Annual Philosophy Conference. This year, the subject is "Philosophy Unbound".

http://www.scribd.com/doc/207278695/Philosophy-Unbound-Flier-2014-1?secret_password=26dxlqc9mxg9fph5

Just wanted to remind everyone of the Thirteenth Annual Selfridge Lecture. This year the Philosophy Department has the honor of welcoming Professor Eckhart Förster to Lehigh University. Lectures are on March 10 and March 11. We hope to see everyone there.

Forster Flyer Eckart Förster Professor of Philosophy, German, and the Humanities at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and Honorary Professor of Philosophy at the Humboldt University, Berlin