Public Talk: Nancy Sherman on "The Moral Psychic Reality of War"

The Cornell Program on Ethics and Public Life invites you to attend a public talk by Nancy Sherman, University Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University, on “The Moral Psychic Reality of War.”  The talk will be on Wednesday, October 12, 4:30 pm in 135 Baker Lab (on East Avenue, diagonally across from the north end of Goldwin Smith Hall).
 
Prof. Sherman, a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and former Distinguished Chair in Ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy, will discuss ethical challenges and psychological burdens of those who fight in wars. Her talk will be of exceptionally broad interest: to members of the military and their families; to faculty and students in philosophy, psychology, sociology, American studies, peace studies, government, literature, and public policy; to counselors and psychotherapists dealing with post-traumatic stress among veterans; and to all citizens of countries served by a military.  Her most recent book, The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds and Souls of our Soldiers (2010), continues the unique combination of philosophical and psychological inquiry and engagement with the experiences of people in the military of Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind (2007). Responses to The Untold War include:
 
“Illuminating and deeply moving, Nancy Sherman’s The Untold War explores the complex emotions involved in the lives of soldiers at war and their relationship to core moral values. Especially in our country, which has chosen to separate the military life from the life of the average citizen, we all need the understanding Sherman’s book offers.” (Martha C. Nussbaum, University of Chicago)
 
“Sherman rightly construes it as a national ‘duty’ to understand the soldier’s ‘healthy struggle. . .to remain alive to civilian sensibilities without losing the. . .steel and resilience’ essential to military service and to facilitate healing of the psychic rifts war can cause. This is not a duty Americans have always been keen to embrace.” (New York Times)
 
“…she successfully makes the case that, with an all-volunteer military, the public has averted its eyes from the psychic damage of our current wars. Says Sherman: ‘War’s residue should not just be a soldier’s private burden.’” (Time magazine)
 
To learn more about Nancy Sherman, visit http://nancysherman.com/index.php.