In Events Sponsored by Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, Experts Go Beyond Headlines to Delve Into Complex Issues

Thought-provoking topics include morality, economics and the Middle East

Should recent discoveries in neuroscience cause us to reconsider basic ethical assumptions about free will and reason as the sources of moral decision making?

Some of the biggest names in brain science will deliberate just that when they convene on the Hill this March for a two-day conference titled “Biological Foundations of Morality? Neuroscience, Evolution and Morality.”

“These scientists and thinkers are at the forefront of discovery in unraveling the biological process of moral decision making,” explains Thomas M. Landy, director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, sponsor of the conference. “During the conference, we hope to sort out the potentially enormous implications for many Western ethical traditions.”

The slate of speakers includes neuroscientists Michael Gazzaniga, Patrick Haggard, Marc Hauser and Joshua Greene; and ethicists Robert Kane ’60, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and Jeanette Kennett.

The conference will help bring attention to the College’s new Integrated Science Complex and ongoing programs celebrating science in the liberal arts. The public is invited to attend with preregistration. Space is limited. The conference schedule, speaker biographies and registration are available online.

The Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, dedicated to engaging discussion and deepening thought on basic human questions of meaning, morality and mutual obligation, will also host events this spring exploring current cultural and political themes. A series of events will offer historical and contemporary perspectives on Muslim-Christian relations.

“For more than 400 years, half of the world's Christians lived and worshipped under Muslim rule,” Landy says. “That encounter has shaped the Christian tradition in ways we often forget.”

The Center is also planning a series with Peace and Conflict Studies on the situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A lecture by Paula Newberg, the Marshall B. Coyne Director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and former special advisor to the United Nations, will begin that series on April 6.

The Center continues its yearlong economic series, “After the Fall: Capitalism and a just way forward,” with talks on Catholic economic values (Jewish and Muslim perspectives were offered last semester) and the cost of a discount consumer culture. The series will culminate March 11 with a visit from Jonathan Gruber, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology, who is considered one of the Democratic party’s most influential advisors on healthcare reform.

Most events are free and open to the public. There is a nominal charge for the March conference. For the complete calendar, visit the Center’s Web site. Many events are recorded, and free podcasts and streaming audio are available on the Center’s Web site. Click on Listen and Learn for the complete catalog.

January 29, 2010|nm