Dishonesty and assisted suicide are among the topics that will be discussed when Sissela Bok, author of the acclaimed books "Lying: Moral Choice in Private and Public Life" and "Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation," delivers this year's Castle Lectures in Ethics, Politics and Economics. The four-part series, titled "On Practical Ethics: A Century's Perspective," is free and open to the public.
Ms. Bok, who is a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for Population and Development Studies at Harvard University, will present the first lecture, "Truthfulness and Deceit in Public Life," on Monday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave. It will be followed by a reception at 5:30 p.m. The series will continue at the same time on Monday, Oct. 28, with the lecture "Human Rights, Population Growth, and Scarce Resources," to be held in Rm. 102 of Linsly-Chittenden Hall, 63 High St. The third lecture, "Easeful Death: From Keats to Kevorkian," will be held on February 24, 1997, and the fourth lecture, "The Philosopher's Stone," will be on March 3.
"Yale's Castle Lectures are given by substantial intellectuals on moral questions of major public concern," says Ian Shapiro, director of the Yale Program in Ethics, Politics and Economics, which sponsors the lecture series. "They are intended to be interdisciplinary in scope and practical in focus. Sissela Bok fits the bill in every conceivable respect. Her reflections on practical ethics, dealing with a host of issues ranging from war and peace to truth-telling and assisted suicide, promise to be penetrating, provocative and lively."
In addition to her books "Lying" and "Secrets," Ms. Bok is also the author of "A Strategy for Peace: Human Values and the Threat of War," "Alva Myrdal: A Daughter's Memoir" and "Common Values." She has written extensively on such topics as bioethics, applied ethics, biography, autobiography and public affairs. She serves as chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board and is a member of the Hastings Center, an independent nonprofit research and educational organization that examines ethical issues in medicine, life sciences and the environment.
The Castle Lectures were endowed by John K. Castle to honor his ancestor the Reverend James Pierpont, one of Yale's original founders. The most recent Castle Lecturer was political theorist and commentator Michael Walzer. Castle Lectures are published in book form by Yale University Press.