Ruth Grant: A Conference

Nora Hanagan/ November 25, 2019/ Conferences

At the core of Ruth’s ethical analysis is the liberal concern that individuals be treated with dignity and with respect for their human freedom and rationality. As she puts it, human beings should be treated as active agents capable of moral responsibility. To the extent that incentive schemes fail to do so, they fail ethically.Craig Borowiak, Haverford College
If hypocrisy is necessary for democratic compromise, then the insistence of liberal theorists that hypocrisy is not permitted because of the requirement of openness threatens democratic compromise by placing demands on politicians that they cannot possibly meet. Ruth aspires to a new account of democratic deliberation that opens the grounds for both the decent moderate and the principled moralist who need this toleration of hypocrisy and even deception in order to be effective.Christopher J. Kelly, Boston College
There is no one else I know who can ask the startling – indeed shocking – questions that Ruth does. They are questions that rub at our most basic assumptions, questions that turn the world upside down in order to get us to re-think our ingrained beliefs, not necessarily to undermine those, but to make us aware of the complex philosophical and epistemological issues that lie behind them. Arlene Saxonhouse, University of Michigan

In an essay discussing the relationship between political theory and political science, Duke Professor Emerita of Political Science Ruth W. Grant wrote that, “humanities research uses resources from the past to open possibilities, construct alternative, or generate new insights.”[1] This quote—intended to clarify the difference between humanistic and scientific inquiry—also sums up Grant’s scholarship, which explored John Locke’s contributions to liberal political thought, the meaning of evil, the ethics of incentives, and numerous other topics.

Along with the Kenan Institute for Ethics and the Department of Political Science, the Duke Program in American Values and Institutions was proud to co-sponsor “Ruth Grant: A Conference.” The day-long event, held on October 4, reflected on Professor Grant’s career upon her retirement from Duke last spring. American University Associate Professor of Government Thomas Merrill—a former student of Grant’s—was the conference’s lead organizer.

The conference highlighted the breadth of Professor Grant’s scholarship; a roundtable of reflections on her work included scholars who have published books on Locke and Rousseau, as well as an expert on ancient political thought and a professor emeritus of international affairs. Two panels featuring papers by former doctoral students called attention to Grant’s strengths as a teacher.

When reflecting on Grant’s career, the panelists noted how her research challenged conventional understandings of political ethics. Incentives, she explained, are not necessarily benign tools to achieve social policy but can be coercive in certain situations.  On the other hand, she argued that hypocrisy—which is often described as a grave moral failing—can be beneficial in liberal regimes where political actors are expected to achieve their goals through persuasion as opposed to violence.

In addition to discussing Grant’s contributions to ongoing debates in political philosophy, the panelists also noted her impact on the broader discipline of political science. While theorists sometimes struggle to demonstrate their relevance to the discipline of political science, Grant often co-authored with her more empirically-minded colleagues.

[1] Ruth W. Grant, “Political Theory, Political Science, and Politics,” Political Theory Vol 30, no 4 (2002), 586.

 

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