Lecture: The Importance of Compassion, Mercy and Political Justice

Though by definition the differences between ‘compassion’ and ‘mercy’ might be finite, Professor Sarah Byers, Ph.D., will share the distinction between the two during her lecture on “Mercy and Justice in Political Life: Augustine, Seneca, and Nussbaum” on Thursday, November 14, at 7 p.m. in the La Maison Salon on the Assumption College campus, 500 Salisbury Street, Worcester. Prof. Byers will lecture in the context of St. Augustine’s letters to Roman magistrates and bishops concerning the distinction between compassion and mercy, the importance of justice, and the morality of various kinds of punishment, including cases of human trafficking and the use of torture by the government. During her lecture, Prof. Byers will draw upon the wisdom of Saint Augustine of Hippo, known as one of the “Latin Fathers of the Church” because of his influential works on Christian thought; Seneca, whose philosophical literature shaped the understanding of Stoic thought in the Roman Imperial Period; and Martha C. Nussbaum, Ph.D., American philosopher and the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, who is internationally renowned for her work in Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, political emotions, and the development of the capability approach that speaks on well-being and justice. Prof. Byers is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at Boston College, whose research interests include St. Augustine, Hellenistic philosophy, and the history of ancient and medieval ethics and metaphysics.