Martha C. Nussbaum

Harvard Book Store is honored to host University of Chicago professor MARTHA NUSSBAUM for a discussion of her latest work, Liberty of Conscience: In Defense of America's Tradition of Religious Equality

In one of the great triumphs of the colonial and Revolutionary periods, the founders of the ... (more)future United States overcame religious intolerance in favor of a constitutional order dedicated to fair treatment for people’s deeply held conscientious beliefs. It granted equal liberty of conscience to all and took a firm stand against religious establishment. This respect for religious difference, acclaimed scholar Nussbaum writes, formed our democracy.

Yet today there are signs that this legacy is misunderstood. The prominence of a particular type of Christianity in our public life suggests the unequal worth of citizens who hold different religious beliefs, or no beliefs. Other people, meanwhile, seek to curtail the influence of religion in public life in a way that is itself unbalanced and unfair. Such partisan efforts, Nussbaum argues, violate the spirit of our Constitution.

Liberty of Conscience is a historical and conceptual study of the American tradition of religious freedom. Weaving together political history, philosophical ideas, and key constitutional cases, this is a rich chronicle of an ideal of equality that has always been central to our history but is now in serious danger.

Time: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 6:00 p.m.
Location: Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton Street, Chicago, IL 60610

Liberty of Conscience, the latest work from respected philosopher Martha Nussbaum, argues that America's tradition of religious freedom is predicated on equal respect for all citizens and ... (more)their beliefs. This ideal, however, is seriously threatened by groups on both side of the religious spectrum who seek, on the one hand, to emphasize one religious understanding at the cost of other belief systems or, on the other, curtail religious influence altogether. It is Nussbaum's contention that these efforts, partisan by their very nature, undermine the value of religious freedom and directly violate the Constitution.

Martha Nussbaum is currently Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, a chair that includes appointments in the Philosophy Department, the Law School, and the Divinity School. She also holds Associate appointments in Classics and Political Science, is a member of the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, and a Board Member of the Human Rights Program. Nussbaum is the author of numerous books, including Cultivating Humanity, Animal Rights, and The Clash Within.

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