Charles, Gregory Fried hold ethics talk

“Adventures in Ethics,” Emerson’s exciting new lecture series in the humanities will begin Tuesday, September 9, at 4:00 pm in the Charles Beard Room of the Little Building. The inaugural talk is by Harvard Law School professor Charles Fried and his son, Gregory Fried, Suffolk University philosophy professor and chair.

The Frieds are experts in political and moral philosophy, and have conducted a wealth of research in those areas.

Harvard Law School professor Charles Fried. (Courtesy Photo)

In 2010, they published Because It Is Wrong: Torture, Privacy and Presidential Power in the Age of Terror (W.W. Norton & Company). In the wake of 9/11 and the abuses of state power it generated, this book is considered one of the most articulate examinations of the moral implications of torture and the need to restrain the sway of the executive branch of government in liberal democracies.

“We could not be more excited to have Charles and Gregory Fried at Emerson to kick off our lecture series,” said Associate Professor Pablo Muchnik from the Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies, who, with Assistant Professor David Kishik, are the co-organizers of the event. “The Frieds’ expertise combines legal, political, and moral philosophy in original and powerful ways. It is quite relevant in a world that faces unprecedented political challenges.”

Suffolk University philosophy professor Gregory Fried. (Courtesy Photo)

The full title of the series, “Leo Hindery Jr. Presents: Adventures in Ethics,” is named after media executive and Emerson Trustee Leo Hindery Jr., P ’16, who has been involved with numerous organizations that promote equality and social justice. His wife, Patti Wheeler Hindery, also a media executive, is funding the project through annual gifts to the College.

“We are grateful for the support and commitment of the Hinderys, as well as our colleagues here at Emerson, for bringing ethical questions back into focus for our students,” Kishik said. “The current series is an extension of the work that Professor Thomas Cooper, of Visual and Media Arts, has done throughout the years with the Ethics Circle, and we believe it epitomizes the vision President Lee Pelton has for the liberal arts at Emerson.” 

“Adventures in Ethics” is sponsored by Emerson’s Office of Academic Affairs, the School of Communication, the School of the Arts, and the Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies. It is scheduled to hold a number of events over the next three years, and is expected to feature key thinkers from leading universities, including those who are internationally recognized in their fields. Discussions this year will examine violence connected to governments of various nations.