Award-winning philosopher, political economist coming to MSU

Contact: Sasha Steinberg

James R. Otteson (Photo by Ken Bennett)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A nationally recognized philosopher and political economist will speak Tuesday [Sept. 15] at Mississippi State.

James R. Otteson’s presentation, “The Enlightenment World of Adam Smith: Capitalist Justice vs. Social Justice,” is part of the university’s 2015-16 Institute for the Humanities Distinguished Lecture Series.

Free to all, the 3:30 p.m. program takes place in the Colvard Student Union’s Bill Foster Ballroom.

Following the presentation, Otteson will sign copies of his 2014 book, “The End of Socialism” (Cambridge University Press). Copies will be available for purchase.   

Otteson is executive director of the BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism and Teaching Professor of Political Economy at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He also holds the university’s Thomas W. Smith Presidential Chair in Business Ethics.

His 2006 book “Actual Ethics,” was selected the following year for the national Templeton Enterprise Award of the Delaware-based Intercollegiate Studies Institute. For more, see www.jamesotteson.com.

“Dr. Otteson is an award-winning philosopher whose interests cross disciplinary boundaries and brings scholarship to bear on important debates beyond the academy,” said institute director William Anthony Hay.

“Presenting a perspective drawn from the 18th century work of Adam Smith and other Enlightenment philosophers helps students engage important debates that resonate today,” Hay added.

Established by MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences in 2005, the lecture series regularly brings prominent artists, writers, critics and art historians, among others, to campus for the benefit of students, faculty and interested members of the general public.

For more information about the institute or its lecture series, visit www.ih.msstate.edu or contact Hay at whay@history.msstate.edu.

The institute accepts tax-deductible donations to its Humanities Advancement Fund via the MSU Foundation. To contribute, contact Lynn Durr at 662-325-8918 or ldurr@advservices.msstate.edu.

Learn more about the College of Arts and Sciences at www.cas.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.

 

Friday, September 11, 2015 - 4:59 pm