FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Department of Philosophy is honored to host Richard Moran of Harvard University as the speaker for the 2025 Kraemer Lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main 201. His lecture, titled "Self-Love: The Very Idea," will challenge the assumption that egoism is our most fundamental motivation, drawing on the works of Bishop Joseph Butler, John Rawls, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

About the Kraemer Lecture

The Kraemer Lecture commemorates William S. Kraemer, who served as chair of the Department of Philosophy from 1953 to 1976. This annual public lecture series brings major philosophers to campus to present cutting-edge research to a broad audience. The event is free and open to the public, welcoming students, faculty, and members of the wider community.

About Richard Moran

Moran is the Brian D. Young Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1995 after previously serving on the faculty at Princeton University. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cornell University in 1989. His research interests include:

• Philosophy of Mind
• Moral Psychology
• Aesthetics & Philosophy of Literature
• Later Wittgenstein
• Speech Acts & Testimony

He has taught courses on these topics as well as self-consciousness, intersubjectivity, philosophy of action, and Marcel Proust.

Publications

Moran is the author of several influential books:

• Authority and Estrangement: An Essay on Self-Knowledge (Princeton, 2001)
• The Philosophical Imagination (Oxford, 2017) - A collection of essays on mind, action, metaphor, and self-understanding
• The Exchange of Words: Speech, Testimony, and Intersubjectivity (Oxford, 2018)

He has also published extensively on metaphor, imagination, emotional engagement with art, action and practical knowledge, and the nature of testimony. Notable papers include:

• "Kant, Proust, and the Appeal of Beauty" (Critical Inquiry, 2012)
• "Self-Knowledge, 'Transparency,' and the Forms of Activity" (Introspection and Consciousness, OUP, 2012)
• "Williams, History, and 'the Impurity of Philosophy'" (The European Journal of Philosophy, 2016)

About the Lecture

Title: "Self-Love: The Very Idea"

Many assume that self-love, or egoism, is our most fundamental motivation — a view widely held in both philosophy and everyday thought. But is this claim accurate? In this lecture, Moran will examine arguments challenging this assumption, drawing on insights from Bishop Joseph Butler, John Rawls, and Jean-Paul Sartre. Through their perspectives, he will critically assess what is misleading about the very concept of "self-love."

This promises to be a thought-provoking event, and everyone is encouraged to attend. For more information, visit the Department of Philosophy's website or contact the department directly.