Akademiforelesningen i humaniora og samfunnsfag
Democracy claims to be an especially good form of government because it provides moral conditions for living well together. Dignity is among these moral conditions, but how can democracy provide it? Dette spørsmålet stiller Professor Josiah Ober seg.
Professor Josiah Ober, Stanford University, foreleser over temaet Democracy and Dignity.
Møtet ledes av professor Jan Terje Faarlund.
Om Akademiforelesningen Democracy and Dignity skriver Ober:
Because we live in communities, the ethical question, "What is it for a life to go well?" is also a question for politics. Democracy claims to be an especially good form of government because it provides moral conditions for living well together. Dignity is among these moral conditions, but how can democracy provide it? Personal dignity is associated with aristocratic honor, human dignity with inherent human rights. By reference to classical Athenian thought and practice, this lecture suggests that democracy promotes a public form of civic dignity that requires mutual recognition, reciprocal respect, and self-restraint from all members of the community. Along with the moral end of enabling us to live better lives, civic dignity may augment a democratic community’s performance by creating conditions favorable to the open exchange of useful knowledge.
Om foredragsholderen:
Josiah Oberhar siden 2006 vært Constantine Mitsotakis Professsor ved School of Humanities and Sciences, Standford University, med professorat både i Department of Political Science og i Department of Classics. Han er også tilknyttet Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality og Center for Global Justice. Fra 1990 til 2006 var han Professor of Classics og fra 2000-2006 også Professor of Human Values ved Princeton University.
