Name: Ethics and Politics: A Divorce to Regret
Start: 2025-10-28T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-10-28T20:30:00-05:00
Location: Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center

Economic efficiency has supplanted crafting policies on ethical grounds. Attend an insightful lecture by Dr. Philip Kitcher.
About this Event

Ethics and Politics: A Divorce to Regret

Is the primary role of politics to maximize national wealth?

Throughout history, many thinkers in many parts of the world have believed that ethical considerations are important in crafting policies. The exact relation between ethical precepts and ideals, on the one hand, and political decisions, on the other, has, of course, been controversial.

During the past half century, however, the idea that politics should be shaped (in some way, and to some extent) by the intent to promote what is good has been replaced by an emphasis on economic efficiency. This lecture will document this trend, will examine its effects, and will offer a way of conceiving the relation between ethics and politics. On this basis, it will argue for the restoration of a deeper commitment to democracy.

Dr. Philip Kitcher is the John Dewey Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at Columbia University, and an Honorary Fellow of Christ's College Cambridge. His philosophical work ranges from the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of science and the philosophy of biology to ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of education and philosophy in literature and music.

His 22 books include "Science, Truth, and Democracy" (2001), "The Ethical Project" (2011), "The Main Enterprise of the World: Rethinking Education" (2022) and "The Rich and the Poor" (2025). He is a past president of the American Philosophical Association (Pacific Division), a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the British Academy, and a member of the American Philosophical Society. Among his awards are the Prometheus Prize (given by the American Philosophical Association for work expanding the fields of science and philosophy), the Rescher Medal (for systematic philosophy), Hempel Award (for lifetime achievement in the philosophy of science) and the prestigious BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award for work in the Humanities.

About the Russell Jacobs Lecture in Philosophy

The purpose of the Russell Jacobs Lecture in Philosophy is to bring outstanding philosophers and discussion of their work to Washburn University. It is held in the fall and is always free and open to the public. Emeritus faculty member Russell Jacobs established this lecture upon his retirement.