Tanner Lectures on Human Values: The Trolley Problem Mysteries: May We Harm Some to Save Others?

Lecture | March 19 – 21, 2013 every day | 4:10-6:15 p.m. | Alumni House, Toll Room

Speaker: Frances Kamm, Littauer Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy, Harvard University

Sponsor: University of California, Berkeley

Frances Kamm, Littauer Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at Harvard University, will present a three day lecture series with commentary by Thomas Hurka, Shelly Kagan, and Judith Thomson. This event will be held on March 19, March 20, and March 21, 2013. There will be a seminar and discussion by Professor Kamm and the commentators on 21st. Free and open to the public. No tickets required. CONSTRUCTION ADVISORY: Due to Lower Sproul construction nearby parking and access to Alumni House may be limited or affected. Please allow extra time for arrival. Questions: contact Alumni House Events at 510.642.1892.

About Frances Kamm:

Frances Kamm is a leading moral philosopher whose work has focused on the nature of nonconsequentialist ethical theory and moral problems related to life and death situations. Her pioneering and profound writings are lauded for exploring important theoretical questions as well as their applications to practical ethical problems.

Kamm has authored many important works in the field of philosophical ethics, including Creation and Abortion; Morality, Mortality, vols. 1 and 2; Intricate Ethics; Ethics for Enemies: Terror, Torture and War, and The Moral Target: Aiming at Right Conduct in War and Other Conflicts (all from Oxford University Press), and numerous articles on normative ethical theory and on practical ethics. She serves on the editorial boards of Philosophy & Public Affairs, Legal Theory, and Utilitas, and on the Faculty Advisory Committee of the Edmond J. Safra Ethics Center. She has been a fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation and the Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2006 she served as a commentator for the Berkeley Tanner Lectures presented by Allan Gibbard.

About the lecture:

Recently there has been some debate about what the Trolley Problem is and whether it actually exists. To deal with this mystery, Professor Kamm will review some possible understandings of the Trolley Problem, its role in helping us decide when some may be harmed in order to save others, and examine the claim that only those who would otherwise kill rather than die may permissibly turn the trolley.

Target audience: All Audiences

Open to audience: All Audiences

Event Contact: lectures@berkeley.edu, 510-643-7413