What does it mean to live a good life?

Thanks to a gift from an anonymous donor, Lehigh’s department of philosophy will hold its first annual Undergraduate Ethics Symposium on Saturday, April 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in STEPS 101.

Robin Dillon, the William Wilson Selfridge Professor and Chair of Philosophy, says the symposium’s goal is to raise awareness about the ethical issues that arise in academic disciplines, in everyday life, on campus and in the larger world, and to inspire students to discuss these issues outside of class.

Two students— Candice Travis ’14 and Brandyn Bok ’15—are coordinating the symposium. Travis holds a B.A. in philosophy and is now pursuing an M.A. in political science at Lehigh. Bok, a philosophy major, is also pursuing bachelor’s degrees in economics and mechanical engineering through the Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) honors program.

“Prof. Dillon informed us that we had been given a donation to further the ‘teaching of ethics’ at Lehigh,” said Travis. “The first thing that came to my mind was to have a dialogue around the theme of ethics on campus, and to get as many students and professors involved.”

Travis took an ethics course as a sophomore and studied Plato, Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, David Hume and other philosophers.

“The questions we were most concerned with were things like ‘What does it mean to be just?’ ‘What is morality?’ ‘What is the good life?’ and so on,” Travis said. “But I would say that the large majority of my classes have been relevant to ethics, even if they weren’t specifically ethics classes.

“And I think that’s why ethics is so important, because it really is relevant to everything that we do in school, in work and in our lives in general.”

Travis and Bok wrote the proposal for the symposium and have been working with Dillon on publicity and program organization. Assisting Travis and Bok are Hyowon Park ’16, Daniel Leal ’16, Olivia Adams ’18, and Kevin Augustyn ’17.

Fourteen students have signed up to give presentations on topics including bioethics, ethics in education, and ethics and punishment. The presentations will be judged by Dillon and Travis. A cash prize of $350 will be given to the student who gives the best overall presentation. Prizes of $200 will be given for the best presentation in each of Lehigh’s three undergraduate colleges.

Travis and Bok are both officers in the Lehigh chapter of Phi Sigma Tau, the international philosophy honor society. The Lehigh chapter was organized on campus in the spring of 2014.

“We also felt that organizing a symposium relevant to all Lehigh students would be helpful in giving Phi Sigma Tau some traction in the Lehigh community,” said Travis.

The symposium, made possible by the Endowed Fund for the Teaching of Ethical Decision-Making, is also sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), the College of Business and Economics, the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, and numerous departments in the CAS.


Story by Christina Holden ’15 and Kurt Pfitzer