TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Prominent philosopher Dr. William G. Lycan will discuss “Why the Abortion Issue is So Difficult,” as part of the 2012-2013 Philosophy Today Lecture Series, which brings well-known philosophers to The University of Alabama to lecture on various topics.
Lycan’s lecture will be held March 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Hall, room 205, on the UA campus.
Lycan’s talk will address some reasons why abortion is such a sensitive topic in society today.
As he explains, “The abortion issue seems uniquely intractable; people not only strongly disagree but seem unable to find common ground for discussing the issue. The abortion issue is, in an important way, unique in our moral experience and nothing in any standard moral theory bears usefully on it.”
A Wisconsin native, Lycan is the author of more than 170 articles as well as seven books that include “Logical Form in Natural Language;” “Knowing Who;” “Consciousness;” “Judgment and Justification;” “Modality and Meaning;” “Consciousness and Experience;” and “Real Conditionals.”
He is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds a half-year post at the University of Connecticut. He has been an invited visiting professor at many universities in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Lectures in the Philosophy Today series are geared toward a general audience and are of interest to those in any profession or academic discipline. Sponsored by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences department of philosophy, a grant from Louis W. Perry and other alumni and friends of the department, the presentations are free and open to the public.
UA’s department of philosophy is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.
Contact
Kelli Wright, College of Arts and Sciences communications specialist, khwright@as.ua.edu; Dontavius Wade, dmwade1@crimson.ua.edu
Source
Dr. Seth Bordner, assistant professor of philosophy, ssbordner@as.ua.edu