World’s most famous living philosopher to speak later today

The world’s most famous philosopher comes to St Andrews


St Andrews’ Inaugural Andrew Carnegie Lecture, on Monday 28th April, will be hosted by the most famous living philosopher in the world, a pretty impressive guest for our University. The speaker, described by Michael Fitzgerald in Newsweek as “the world’s most relevant living philosopher”, is Professor Michael Sandel, who is currently teaching at Harvard University. Some of you may have heard of him and his Harvard course, Justice (available to view online), where he encourages the audience to debate the biggest ethical questions of our time.

Sandel has been extremely influential to modern philosophy and described by the Guardian as “currently the most effective communicator of ideas in English”. However, the event is also designed to appeal to students not studying philosophy. Professor Sandel is famous for his ability to engage audiences in lively discussions and address complex ethical issues in ways which are accessible to all.

michael-sandel-1

The Andrew Carnegie Lecture is entitled “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets” and the event is part of The Andrew Carnegie Lecture Series, taking place at the Universities of St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen, which aims to engage Scottish audiences on issues important to Carnegie. The lectures are funded as part of the centennial celebrations of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, created in 1911. It was one of the many institutions and organisations created by the Scottish-born Philanthropist and former Rector of St Andrews. Questions in the lecture will include: “What should be the role of money and markets in a good society?”, “Are there some things money should not be able to buy?”, and “Do we want a society in which everything is up for sale?”.

The lecture will be delivered at the Buchanan Lecture Theatre, on Union Street, at 5pm and is free to all; however, seats are allocated on a first-come first-served basis. I would definitely recommend this event, this is a great opportunity to see one of the most important academics of our age and as noted by Principle Professor Louise Richardson, Professor Sandel is “A formidable intellect and…he will challenge us to question our deepest values”.

Image courtesy of justiceharvard.org