Thursday, Sept. 11,  2008, noon

Ethics: People, Purpose, Power, and the Big Picture

How are we to behave toward each other in a diverse but interdependent world? Ethics is complex, especially in a complex world, but we can find ways to simplify its focus. In this presentation the subject will be approached by considering three definitive elements of ethics: people, power, and purpose. These will be discussed and then placed in the context of today’s ethical challenges at a global level.

Tom W. Boyd

About the Speaker:
Tom W. Boyd is currently the David Ross Boyd Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Oklahoma. After teaching philosophy of religion and ethics there for 28 years, he retired from full time teaching in 1997. He also retired from the ordained ministry in the Presbyterian Church USA in the summer of 1998.

Boyd continues to teach in the newly-established Religious Studies program of the university and to lecture, preach and conduct seminars around the country. In addition, he writes. Most recently he completed his first novel in collaboration with his wife. Boyd holds four earned degrees, including a Ph.D. in Religion from Vanderbilt University in 1973. His academic specialization is in philosophical theology, theories of religion, religion and culture, and ethics. His current concentration is on the relation among world religions and the relation between religion and culture. He seeks through his studies and teaching to understand and appreciate religion in its contemporary setting and in light of an emerging planetary culture.

Audio and Transcript (Opens in new window)