Felicia Nimue Ackerman, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at Brown University
Friday April 16, 2010
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Crawford Hall – Room 9
Inamori Center
Case Western Reserve University
Dear Colleagues,
In the recent health reform debate a lot of controversy erupted over a claim that the legislation included “death panels.” But that lie was made more plausible by a sliver of reality.
That reality is a literature within the bioethics field which suggests that society’s obligation to help any individual live must be limited by concern for some greater good. The greater good that received the most attention during debate over the past few years was the need to control costs. Articles frequently pointed out that the reform process was ignoring the “need” for rationing; that rationing should not be a dirty word, and the like. (For a prominent example see http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/magazine/19healthcare-t.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=peter+singer&st=nyt )
But the argument can be taken further. Population growth means that humans use more and more of the world’s resources. In the name of “sustainability,” one can argue, that consumption needs to be limited. But whose consumption should be limited, and by what principle?
I do not know what Professor Ackerman will say. But I figure she will say it in a pithy way. She may have the world record for letters published in the New York Times. http://www.ivygateblog.com/2006/11/new-ny-times-policy-requires-all-letters-to-be-from-single-brown-professor-update/ Or so some claim.
As usual, we will gather in Room 9 of the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, on the lower level of Crawford Hall, for free cookies, beverages, and brown bag lunch.
Best regards,
Joe White
About Our Guest
Felicia Nimue Ackerman’s current research interests include bioethics, moral psychology, and philosophy in literature. Her current work revolves around philosophical themes in Malory’s Morte Darthur, the ethics of end-of-life issues, and moral psychology. She writes short stories and poems as well as essays dealing with this material.
Her essays have appeared in The Hastings Center Report, The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics, The Blackwell Guide to Medical Ethics, and elsewhere. Her short stories have appeared in Prize Stories 1990: The O. Henry Awards, Commentary, Playgirl, and elsewhere. Her poems have appeared in The Providence Journal, Free Inquiry, English Studies Forum, and elsewhere. She writes a monthly column for The Providence Journal.
Ackerman has been a Senior Fulbright Lecturer in philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences/National Endowment for the Humanities fellow.
Her recent seminar topics include 1.) ethics and character in Malory’s Morte Darthur 2.) disability, fiction and bioethics .
Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:
April 23: Science in the Courts. With Wendy Wagner, Joe A. Worsham Centennial Professor, University of Texas School of Law.
The Friday Lunch discussions are held on the lower (ground) level of Crawford Hall. Visitors with mobility issues may find it easiest to take advantage of special arrangements we have made. On most Fridays, a few parking spaces in the V.I.P. lot in between Crawford Hall and Amasa Stone Chapel are held for participants in the lunch discussion.
Visitors then can avoid walking up the hill to the first floor of Crawford by entering the building on the ground level, through the garage area under the building. The further door on the left in that garage will be left unlocked during the period before the Friday lunch. On occasion, parking will be unavailable because of other university events.
For more information about these and other Center for Policy Studies programs, please see http://policy.case.edu.