Leading thinkers on tricky topics of global justice will deliver lectures to students in the "Responsibility and Global Justice" course at Vanderbilt Law School on five Tuesday afternoons between Feb. 19 and April 8, and the public is invited to attend.
“People born into relatively wealthy countries probably tend to fare better than their counterparts in poorer countries – they live longer, healthier lives filled with greater opportunities for education, autonomy and the development of human capacities,” said Robert Talisse, an associate professor of philosophy co-teaching the Responsibility and Global Justice class with John Goldberg, associate dean for research at Vanderbilt Law School.
“Who is responsible for global injustice? Are wealthy countries collectively responsible for the collective poverty of poor countries? Are multinational firms that profit handsomely from operating in the international economy responsible? Are the citizens of wealthy countries responsible to the citizens of impoverished countries? “Our speakers will be sorting through some of these tough questions,” he said.
All the lectures will be held in the Moore Room of Vanderbilt Law School from 12:10 to 1:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Topics and speakers include:
- Feb. 19: “Justice and the Feminization of Global Poverty” by Alison Jaggar, professor of philosophy and women’s studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder
- Feb. 26: “Luck, Institutions and Global Justice” by Kok-chor Tan, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania
- March 18: “Human Rights: Agendas and Institutions” by David Reidy, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
- March 25: “Global Transgenerational Justice” by James Bohman, the Danforth Professor of Philosophy at St. Louis University
- April 8: “Sixty Years After the Universal Declaration: Philosophical Questions about Human Rights” by Mathias Risse, associate professor of public policy and philosophy at Harvard University
