The Catholic University of America
Columbus School of Law
620 Michigan Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20064

March 27 — 30, 2008

The Catholic University of America

Center for Law, Philosophy and Culture

Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday

Thursday, March 27
5 – 7 p.m. Registration and Reception
7 – 7:15 p.m. Welcome and Introduction

Welcome

Very Rev. David M. O’Connell, C.M., President

Introduction

William Wagner, Director, Center for Law, Philosophy and Culture
   
7:15 – 9 p.m. Opening Session
 

Keynote Address

  The Light of Moral Insight 
  Cardinal Angelo Scola, Patriarch of Venice
  (Via video transmission to accommodate the speaker’s schedule)
 

Opening Conversation

  Avenues of Symposium Reflection
  Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University
  Rev. John Polkinghorne, University of Cambridge

Friday, March 28

  
8 – 8:45 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:45 – 9 a.m. Welcome
   
9 – 10: 30 a.m. First Morning Session
Culture as Ground of the Capacity for Moral Insight
 

Plenary Address

  The Capacity for Moral Insight as Cultural Asset
  Kenneth Schmitz, University of Toronto
 

Panel

  Pope Benedict XVI and the Desideratum of a Natural Law
  Rev. James Schall, S.J., Georgetown University
  David Solomon, University of Notre Dame
  William Wagner, The Catholic University of America
   
10:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Second Morning Session
Counterforces to the Transmission of a Common Morality
 

Plenary Address

  God, Sex and America: Decline of the Common Morality
  Nicholas Boyle, Cambridge University
 

Plenary Address

 

Mastery, Hubris, and Gift:  Biotechnology and the Human Good

  Michael J. Sandel, Harvard University
 

Responses

  Stephen Smith, University of Virginia
  Carter Snead, University of Notre Dame
   
2 – 3:30 p.m. First Afternoon Session
The Gift of Existence and the Moral Response
 

Plenary Address

  Respect for Human Dignity as a Fundamental Aspect of Moral  Responsibility
  Gilbert Meilaender, Valparaiso University
 

Plenary Address

  Why a Common Morality Cannot Produce Good Character
  Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University
 

Responses

  John Grabowski, The Catholic University of America
  Peter Casarella, DePaul University
   
3:45 – 5:15 p.m. Second Afternoon Session
Perspectives from Anthropology and Sociology: The Role of Culture in Transmitting an Attitude of Basic Morality
 

Plenary Address

  Openness to Moral Insight: Socio-cultural Considerations
  Kathryn Tanner, University of Chicago
 

Plenary Address

  The Family’s Role in Culture's Transmitting 
Capacity for Moral Insight
  Paul Vitz, New York University
 

Responses

  Patrick Brennan, Villanova University
  David Walsh, The Catholic University of America
5:15 – 6 p.m. Reception
6 – 7:30 p.m.  Dinner
   
7:30 – 9 p.m. Evening Session
Christian Perspectives: Narratives of Divine Gift and Human Moral Response
 

Plenary Address

  The Christian Belief in Creation and the Attitude of Moral Accountability
  Rev. John Polkinghorne, University of Cambridge
 

Plenary Address

  Christian Faith in Redemption, Source of Moral Attitude
  Rev. Brian Johnstone, C.Ss.R., The Catholic University of America
 

Responses

  Rev. James Wiseman, O.S.B., The Catholic University of America
  Holger Zaborowski, The Catholic University of America

Saturday, March 29

  
8 – 8:45 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:45 – 9 a.m. Welcome
   
9 – 10:30 a.m.  First Morning Session
Perspectives in Philosophy: Gift as Premise of Insight
 

Plenary Address

  Creation, Gratitude, and Virtue in Thomas Aquinas
  Thomas Hibbs, Baylor University
 

Plenary Address

  Natural Law, God, and Human Rights
  Robert George , Princeton University
 

Responses

  Joseph Capizzi, The Catholic University of America
  Rabbi Barry Freundel, Baltimore Hebrew University
   
10:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Second Morning Session
Historical Perspectives on Developments in Moral Reasoning
 

Plenary Address

  The Natural Law, the Laws of Reason, and the Distractions of History
  Hadley Arkes, Amherst College
 

Plenary Address

  Natural Law in Medieval and Early-Modern Europe: Seismic Activity and Shifting Foundations
  Francis Oakley, Williams College
 

Responses

  Richard Helmholz, University of Chicago
 

Kenneth Pennington, The Catholic University of America

   
2 – 3:30 p.m. First Afternoon Session
Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Problems in Law
 

Plenary Address

  Can War Be an Instrument of Justice?
  Jean Bethke Elshtain, University of Chicago
 

Plenary Address

  Accepting and Assigning Responsibilities for Problems of International Environmental Harms
  Rev. William Schweiker, University of Chicago
 

Responses

  Heather Elliott, The Catholic University of America
 

Cole Durham Jr.,  Brigham Young University

   
3:45 – 5:15 p.m.  Second Afternoon Session
  Case Study: The Continuing Adequacy of the Rights Model
 

Plenary Address

 

Natural Right, Authority, and Power:
The Theological Trajectory of Human Rights

  Jean Porter, University of Notre Dame
 

Plenary Address

  Rights Theory and Practice: Ancient and Modern
  Bradley Lewis, The Catholic University of America
 

Responses

  Rev. David Hollenbach, S.J., Boston College
  Brian Tierney, Cornell University
   
5:15 – 6 p.m.  Reception
6 – 7:30 p.m.  Dinner
7:30 – 9 p.m. Concert Program
  Benjamin T. Rome School of Music
  CUA Chamber Choir and CUA Faculty Trio

Sunday, March 30

  
7:30 – 8:30 a.m. Liturgy
  Very Rev. David M. O’Connell, C.M., Celebrant and homilist
8 – 8:45 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:45 – 9 a.m. Welcome
   
9 – 10:45 a.m. First Morning Session
Sacred Text and Moral Reason
 

Plenary Address

  The Sacred Text and Ethical Consciousness
  Kevin Hart, University of Virginia
 

Plenary Address

  St. Paul and Knowledge of the Natural Law
  Stephen Westerholm, McMaster University
 

Responses

  Rev. Frank Matera,The Catholic University of America
  Robert Wilken, The University of Virginia
   
11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Second Morning Session
Comparative Perspectives: Narratives in Eastern Religions Concerning Transcendent Gift and Human Moral Response
 

Plenary Address

  Being at One with Heaven and Earth: The Ethical Integration of Self, Society, and Nature in Daoism
  Livia Kohn, Boston University
 

Responses

  Thera Katugastota Uparatana, American University
  Charles Jones, The Catholic University of America
   
2 – 3:30 p.m. Afternoon Session
Comparative Perspectives: Abrahamic Narratives of  Divine Gift and Human Moral Response
 

Plenary Address

  Enjoining the Good and Dissuading from Evil:
Social Morality of the Qur’an
  Mahmoud Ayoub, Temple University
 

Plenary Address

  Narrative Theme in Judaism: God’s Gift and Mindfulness of the Ethical Dimension as Human Response
  Rabbi Barry Freundel, Baltimore Hebrew University
 

Responses

  Robert Burt, Yale University Law School
  Ayatollah Ahmad Iravani, The Catholic University of America
Symposium Adjourns 



Last Revised 14-Jan-08 02:14 PM.