German philosopher Robert Spaemann will deliver the 2010 McGivney Lectures at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. next week (April 12, 14, and 16, 2010). He will speak on “Nature and Natural Law in the Present Cultural Situation: Issues Concerning the Dignity of Human Life.” Details can be found here.
Monday, April 12: 7 pm. Human Dignity and Human Nature
Wednesday, April 14: 7 pm. The Paradoxes of Love
Friday, April 16: 4 pm. Is Brain Death the Death of a Human Person?
The John Paul II Cultural Center is located at 3900 Harewood Road in Northeast DC, next to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Readers of Communio will already be familiar with Spaemann’s articles Rationality and Faith in God (pdf, 2005), Begotten, Not Made (pdf, 2006), When Death Becomes Inhuman (pdf, 2006) and the interview ‘An animal that can promise and forgive.’ (pdf, 2007).
As a preview of the forthcoming issue on Silence and Prayer, here is another Spaemann article for you to enjoy. First published in the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung in 2005, we make it available in English for the first time here: How Could You Do What You Did? (pdf), an examination of the concepts of shame and shamelessness.
Local readers are invited to attend the lectures, which will be held in the auditorium of the John Paul II Cultural Center. Tickets are required. Call 202-526-3799 for information and reservations.
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