Sissela Bok, author of the acclaimed books "Lying" and "Secrets," will deliver the third lecture in the four-part Castle Lectures in Ethics, Politics and Economics on Monday, Feb. 24. "Lifeboat Ethics: Human Rights, Population Growth, and Scarce Resources" is the title of the lecture, which will begin at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. A reception will follow at 5:30 p.m.
Ms. Bok delivered the first two lectures in the series "On Practical Ethics: A Century's Perspective" last year. The Castle Lectures are presented by noted scholars on moral questions of major public concern.
Ms. Bok is a Distinguished Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. She has written extensively on such topics as bioethics, applied ethics, biography, autobiography and public affairs. In addition to "Lying: Moral Choice in Private and Public Life" and "Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation," she is also author of "A Strategy for Peace: Human Values and the Threat of War," "Alva Myrdal: A Daughter's Memoir" and "Common Values." She is chair of the Pulitzer Prize board and is a member of the board of the Hastings Center, an independent nonprofit research and educational organization which examines ethical issues in medicine, life sciences and the environment.
Her fourth lecture, "The Philosopher's Stone: The Temptations of Moral Alchemy," will be delivered on Monday, March 3.