Free Enterprise Speaker Series: Voting. Loren Lomasky, "Your Vote and the Demise

Description

Loren Lomasky, University of Virginia, "Your Vote and the Demise of Democracy"

Part of the Free Enterprise Speaker Series.

Free and Open to the Public

About this Discussion: With the 2018 midterm elections unfolding in the wake of a bitter Supreme Court nomination, it seems that more public attention than ever is focused on voting and democracy in America. In this timely public lecture, Professor Loren Lomasky of the University of Virginia will explore important but sometimes overlooked aspects of voting and democracy. As Winston Churchill famously quipped, “democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Lomasky, will explore the undersides of voting and troubling developments in societies around the globe, from Turkey to Poland, Hungary to the Philippines, and here at home too. Is democracy in decline? Does your vote matter anymore? This event will present these questions and more from this renowned professor and important voice.

About the Speaker: Loren Lomasky is Cory Professor of Political Philosophy, Politics, and Law and the University of Virginia. Professor Lomasky is best known for his work in moral and political philosophy. His book Persons, Rights, and the Moral Community (Oxford University Press, 1987) established his reputation as a leading advocate of a rights-based approach to moral and social issues. He is also co-author of Democracy and Decision: The Pure Theory of Electoral Preference (Cambridge University Press, 1993), a landmark work about the effects of voting in democracies. In his 2016 article, “Fleecing the Young,” Lomasky makes the case for more intergenerational fairness in U.S. budget policies that currently enrich older generations while handing young people the bill. For more than four decades, Lomasky has taught undergraduate and graduate classes in the philosophy of religion, medieval philosophy and other episodes in the history of philosophy as well as many topics in moral and political philosophy. He has held research appointments sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Center for the Study of Public Choice, the Australian National University, and the Social Philosophy and Policy Center. He has been the recipient of many awards including the American Philosophical Association’s Matchette Prize for the best book in philosophy.

About the Free Enterprise Speaker Series: Now in its twelfth year, WCU’s Free Enterprise Speaker Series is held three times a semester to offer a forum for the campus and community to explore all points of view on important issues of the day, hear from renowned experts from a variety of fields, and understand multiple perspectives through civil, informed, and fruitful discourse. Sponsored by Center for the Study of Free Enterprise.

For more information please visit enterprise.wcu.edu or email us at csfe@wcu.edu.