Center for Policy Studies
Public Affairs Discussion Group

MORAL COURAGE: COMPROMISE OR COWARDICE?

Susan Dwyer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland

Friday April 2, 2010
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Crawford Hall - Room 9
Inamori Center
Case Western Reserve University

Dear Colleagues,

House Democrats faced the question for this week's discussion with the controversy concerning abortion restrictions in the health care reform bill. Abortion supporters had to choose whether to accept restrictive language, and Rep. Stupak and his allies had to choose whether to accept less restrictive language than they had won in the House bill.

Compromises must be made in politics and in policy making. But when should people refuse to compromise? When is a refusal to compromise "moral courage," and when is it "moral cowardice"?

This week's discussion will feature a talk by philosopher Dr. Susan Dwyer from the University of Maryland. It is sponsored by the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, is free and open to the public, and LUNCH WILL BE PROVIDED! If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Christian Frano at caf59@case.edu or 216-368-2579.

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 Guests

Susan Dwyer is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland. She received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The focus of her primary research is moral psychology, especially as it can be pursued as a branch of cognitive science. Her current work concerns the question of what makes moral attention and moral judgment possible. She is completing a book manuscript, entitled The Moral Faculty: An Essay Concerning Human Moral Judgment. In addition, Dwyer has ongoing research and teaching interests at the intersection of law, public policy, and moral philosophy (e.g., abortion, pornography), transitional justice and moral psychology (e.g., reconciliation), and feminist theory. She is a member of the International Advisory Board for the International Journal of Transitional Justice. Prior to joining the Department, Dwyer was Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

April 9: Business and Sustainability. With Roger Saillant, Ph.D. Executive Director, Fowler Center for Sustainable Values, Weatherhead School of Business.

April 16: : Does Environmental Responsibility Mean the Elderly Should Accept “Natural” Deaths? With Felicia Nimue Ackerman, Professor of Philosophy, Brown University.

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.

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For more information, or if you have trouble reading this page, go to the Friday Lunch web site.