SHERMAN, TEXAS—Thomas E. Hill, Jr., Kenan Professor of Philosophy at University of North Carolina, will present a lecture, “Lies, Torture, and Utopias,” at Austin College Thursday, October 17, at 4:30 p.m. in Wright Campus Center, Room 231. A 4:15 reception in Johnson Gallery of the Wright Campus Center precedes the talk. The lecture and reception are free and open to the public.
Hill, who has been a college professor for nearly 50 years, including 30 years at UNC, has written extensively on ethics, the history of ethics, and political philosophy throughout his career. He has written seven scholarly books, published many articles, and spoken around the country for numerous colleges and professional organizations.
“Is what we would do in an ideal world (a utopia) relevant to what we should do now in our real and very imperfect world?” Hill asks. “In an ideal world, we may suppose, no one would tell lies or torture anyone. In our real and often corrupt world, however, telling a lie may be the only way to prevent a murderer from killing a friend and some say that using torture in interrogation could be the only way to prevent the destruction of a whole city. Is thinking about ideal worlds, then, relevant to decisions about what we ought to do – or is it useless ‘utopian thinking’? A common thought is that we should live the standards that we would want everyone to follow, and similarly philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant, have thought the crucial question in ethics is, ‘What principles would free, rational, equal, and mutually respectful persons legislate for themselves and others in an ideal community?’ But since we live in a non-ideal world, does it matter what people would do in an ideal (utopian) world?”
Hill earned a bachelor’s degree and Phi Beta Kappa honors at Harvard University in 1959. A Rhodes Scholar, he earned a Bachelor of Philosophy at Oxford University of England in 1961 before returning to Harvard to complete a master’s degree and then earned a Ph.D. in 1966.
He began his full-time teaching career with a year at Johns Hopkins University, then served as an assistant professor at Pomona College before moving to the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1968. He remained at UCLA until 1984 when he joined the UNC faculty where he held the William R Kenan, Jr., Professor in 1994-1995 and has held the Kenan Professorship since 1996. During his career, he also served as a visiting professor at University of Minnesota and as a visiting associate professor at Stanford University.
Hill has received numerous fellowship and honors for his academic work, including several for teaching excellence. He serves as vice president of the American Philosophical Association's Eastern Division this year and will become president in academic year 2014-2015.
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the College is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives.