Free public lectures from renowned philosopher

News release from the Royal Society of New Zealand

1 September 2010

Renowned British philosopher delivering free public lectures in New Zealand

The past president of the British Academy and Cambridge University’s Professor of Philosophy, Baroness Onora O’Neill, is the inaugural speaker for the upcoming New Zealand Aronui Lecture series beginning in mid-September.

Baroness O’Neill will be speaking in six centres around New Zealand, delivering free public lectures on three different topics as the guest of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

The topics for her lectures are - ‘Two Cultures Fifty Years On’, ‘Grasping Freedom of Speech’, and ‘Perverting Trust’.

Baroness O’Neill is well-known for the outstanding contribution she has made to philosophy and her analyses of ethical issues in science.

She has been published widely with books on political philosophy and ethics, international justice and bioethics – books for which she has been described as ‘taking no prisoners’ with the ‘incisiveness of her critiques’.

In 1999 she was made a life peer as Baroness O’Neill of Bengarve. Until last year Baroness O’Neill was President of the British Academy and was made an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society in 2007. She is currently Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and chairs the Nuffield Foundation and the Human Genetics Advisory Commission.

In 2002 Baroness O’Neill delivered the BBC’s prestigious Reith Lectures.

This new annual lecture series, the New Zealand Aronui Lectures, has been established by the Royal Society of New Zealand to stimulate debate about the generation of knowledge and how knowledge is transferred. ‘Aronui’ refers to the knowledge of being human.

Dr Di McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of New Zealand, says it is an honour to have Baroness O’Neill visit New Zealand.

“We believe her lectures will encourage interesting debate about how combining knowledge from both science and the humanities could be used to address issues facing the world. She is an accomplished commentator on this and many other topics.”

All the lectures are free and open to the public:

Auckland – Wednesday 15 September, 6.30pm, AUT city campus Auckland - Friday 17 September, 6pm, The University of Auckland Hamilton – Thursday 16 September, 7.30pm, Waikato University Palmerston North – 20 September, 5.30pm, Massey University Wellington – 21 September, 7.30pm, Wellington Town Hall Christchurch – 22 September, 6pm, Christchurch Arts Centre Dunedin – 23 September, 5.30pm, University of Otago

For more details on lecture venues, topics and times, please visit www.royalsociety.org.nz It is advisable to register online to ensure a seat.

ENDS

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