February 20, 2004

College of Business Administration lecture series focuses on ethics and economics

This semester, the College of Business Administration continues two lecture series—one in economics, the other in ethicsthat ex plore the values and ethics of free enterprise and the means by which it can strengthen society. The second speaker in the economics series is the Rev. James V. Schall, S.J., who discusses "The Most Terrible Virtue: On the Natural Limits of Justice," on Wednesday, March 3. The second speaker in the ethics series is the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus' presenting, "Doing Well and Doing Good: Business as Christian Vocation," scheduled for Wednesday, March 31. Both lectures are scheduled for 7 p.m. in Miller Hall, Room 114.

Schall's lecture will address the subject of justice as one of the four classical moral virtues. He will relate the concept of justice to modern issues and circumstances. Schall's work in the areas of philosophy, politics, and natural law reflects the liaison between the political and religious thinking of modern times and his varied interests reflect his devotion to both academic and spiritual arenas. Schall was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1963 and studied at the Georgian University in Rome from 1965 until 1968. He has written numerous academic articles and books, including: Reason, Revelation, and the Foundations of Political Philosophy; Another Sort of Learning; At the Limits of Political Philosophy; and Jacque Maritain: The Philosopher in Society. His studies are concentrated in classical and medieval political philosophy, natural law, Christian political philosophy, and the nature of political philosophy. James M. Buchanan gave the first lecture in this series last October.

Neuhaus is acclaimed as one of the foremost authorities on the role of religion in the contemporary world and is president of The Institute on Religion and Public Life, a nonpartisan interreligious research and education institute in New York City. He is editor-in-chief of the institute's publication, First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life. Among his best known books are Freedom for Ministry, The Naked Square: Religion and Democracy in America, The Catholic Moment: The Paradox of the Church in the Postmodern World, and, with Rabbi Leon Klenicki, Believing Today: Jew and Christian in Conversation. His most recent book is As I Lay Dying: Meditations Upon Returning.

As a Lutheran clergyman, he was for 17 years senior pastor of a low-income black parish in Brooklyn, New York. He has played a leadership role in organizations dealing with civil rights, international justice, and ecumenism. He has held presidential appointments in the Carter, Reagan, and the first Bush administrations. In a survey of national leadership, U.S. News & World Report named Neuhaus one of 32 "most influential intellectuals in America." In September 1991 he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of New York. Born in Canada, Neuhaus received his formal education in Ontario and in the United States and is a graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Chris Lowney gave the first lecture in this series last November.