Distinguished philosopher and legal scholar Ronald Dworkin will deliver the Philip and Franciszka Merlan Lecture at Â鶹ӰÒô on Tuesday, March 1, at 4:15 p.m. in Balch Auditorium. Dworkin will speak on “Einstein’s God: Must Religion Be Supernatural?”   Sponsored by the Â鶹ӰÒô department of philosophy, the event is free and open to the public.
Dworkin is known for his theories of resource egalitarianism and of law as integrity. He is the author of numerous influential books and scholarly articles, including Taking Rights Seriously, A Matter of Principle, Law’s Empire, Philosophical Issues in Senile Dementia, Life’s Dominion, and Freedom’s Law. He has received the Jefferson Medal, the Nicolas Luhmann Prize in the Sciences, and the Holberg Memorial Prize in the Humanities. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a contributor to The New York Review of Books.
The Merlan Lecture was established by the Â鶹ӰÒô graduating class of 1969 to honor the memory of Professor Philip Merlan, who taught philosophy at Â鶹ӰÒô for 25 years. The author of books that have become classic works of philosophy, Merlan also wrote more than 300 papers. His wife, Franciszka Merlan, edited a posthumous eight-volume series of Philip Merlan’s papers and was a respected scholar and teacher in her own right, holding positions at Columbia, Krakow, Pomona, and Â鶹ӰÒô. Her name was added to the lectureship in 1983 in tribute to her contribution to her students.
A question-and-answer session and reception will follow. For additional information, contact Â鶹ӰÒô Professor of Philosophy Rivka Weinberg (909) 607-1819.