The Center for Ethics and Human Values will host philosophy professor Sally Haslanger to deliver this year’s Distinguished Lecture in Ethics, titled “Explanations of Systemic Disadvantage: Discrimination and Social Formation” Friday. Credit: Carly Damon | Asst. Photo Editor
Massachusetts Institute of Technology philosophy professor Sally Haslanger will visit Ohio State Friday to deliver this year’s Distinguished Lecture in Ethics, an annual event hosted by the university’s Center for Ethics and Human Values.
The lecture — titled “Explanations of Systematic Disadvantage: Discrimination and Social Formation” — will take place from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Grand Lounge of the Faculty Club, located at 181 Oval Drive S. The event will feature a formal lecture, followed by a Q&A session.
Why Haslanger?
The lecture series brings influential scholars to Ohio State to discuss pressing ethical and philosophical issues, according to the CEHV website. This year’s selection committee saw Haslanger as an ideal choice, said Winston Thompson, professor of philosophy of education and co-director of CEHV.
“Sally Haslanger’s work has been influential for many years, and she’s well-positioned to deliver a lecture that will be broadly appealing to the university community while challenging us to think differently about the ideas at the core of her talk,” Thompson said.
Haslanger’s research is widely recognized for analyzing how social concepts shape social structures and injustices, according to her website.
“She has paid close attention to the ways in which concepts become defined and how the framing of questions allows for new possibilities in responding to social issues,” Thompson said.
Rethinking systemic injustice
Haslanger’s lecture will critique traditional models of systemic injustice — particularly the associationist model, which views society as a network of individual relationships and voluntary associations, Haslanger said. In her view, this approach fails to account for broader economic and structural forces that shape inequality.
“It’s not just all about fixing what’s in our minds, or having better attitudes or going to implicit bias trainings,” Haslanger said. “Implicit bias trainings are never going to end capitalism. Let me just put it that way.”
Instead, Haslanger endorses a more comprehensive and systemic perspective.
“The working class is an artifact of capitalism,” Haslanger said. “Yes, there are discriminatory attitudes toward the working class, but they’re not what create the working class. The working class is created by an economic system that depends on the exploitation of laborers in order to make a profit.”
By clarifying key concepts and linking them to broader philosophical traditions, philosophy plays a critical role in shaping public discourse and social movements, Haslanger said.
“One of the things I think philosophers can do is help clarify and make distinctions and give us better tools, both for communicating with each other and for addressing real issues,” Haslanger said.
What to know before attending
For students unfamiliar with philosophy, the event will offer an opportunity to engage with complex ideas in an accessible way, Haslanger said.
“I am trying to give more tools to people who are trying to understand our social world,” Haslanger said.
Thompson said attendees will have a chance to interact with a scholar who is asking important questions “about what we ought to do or how we should respond to social challenges.”
“These lectures help further conversations on campus about how we might recognize and respond to the issues of our time,” Thompson said.
Students attending the event can expect a discussion on systemic injustice, an opportunity to engage with one of today’s leading philosophers and to explore unique perspectives on class, race and gender, Thompson said.
The Distinguished Lecture in Ethics is free and open to the public, and no registration is required.
