Wooster’s Lindner Lecture in Ethics hosts philosophy professor Vanessa Wills

The College of Wooster Department of Philosophy will welcome Vanessa Wills for the 18th annual Lindner Lecture in Ethics on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 8 p.m. in the Lean Lecture Room in Wishart Hall (303 E. University Street). Supported by the Lindner Endowment, the title of this year’s lecture is “Human Flourishing in Marx’s Ethical Vision.”  

Wills, associate professor of philosophy at the George Washington University, focuses her work in moral, social, and political philosophy, nineteenth century German philosophy, and the philosophy of race, and her research studies how socioeconomic arrangements can inhibit or promote the realization of values such as freedom, equality, and human development. She is the author of the 2024 book “Marx’s Ethical Vision” and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh, where she wrote her dissertation on, “Marx and Morality.” Wills conducted part of her dissertation research at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin as a Fulbright Scholar in 2011-12. Previously, Wills taught as a visiting faculty fellow at Baltimore County’s Dresher Center for the Humanities, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Visiting Chair in Ethics and Practice at Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität’s Munich Center for Ethics, and at St. Joseph’s University.  

The day following the lecture, Thursday, Oct. 17, a critics’ panel will be held at 11 a.m. in room 105 of Scovel Hall (944 College Mall). The panel will include Karen Ng, associate professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University, and Garrett Thomson, Elias Compton Professor of Philosophy at The College of Wooster, who will speak with Wills on her work in conversation with students. Both events are free and open to the public. 

The Lindner Lecture in Ethics is supported by The Lindner Endowment, which was established in 2007 through a generous gift from Carl H. Lindner to support the Department of Philosophy in the teaching of ethics. For more information about the event, contact Nat McCoy at nmccoy@wooster.edu.  

Posted in News on October 2, 2024.