What It Means to Be Human: Taking the Body Seriously in Contemporary Ethics — O. Carter Snead

The Morningside Institute

You may watch this lecture along with Dr. Snead's PowerPoint presentation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Uab1SpYgAVI

The natural limits of the human body make us vulnerable and therefore dependent, throughout our lives, on others. Yet American law and policy disregard these stubborn facts, with statutes and judicial decisions that presume people to be autonomous, defined by their capacity to choose. This individualistic ideology captures important truths about human freedom, but it also means that we have no obligations to each other unless we actively, voluntarily embrace them. Under such circumstances, the most vulnerable among us must rely on charitable care. When it is not forthcoming, law and policy cannot adequately respond. In this lecture, O. Carter Snead rethinks how the law represents human experiences so that it might govern more wisely, justly, and humanely.

O. Carter Snead is Professor of Law, Director of de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, and Concurrent Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. You may find his recently published book, What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics, via this link: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674987722

This lecture was given to the Morningside Institute on February 24, 2021. For more information about upcoming events, please visit https://www.morningsideinstitute.org.