Robert Talisse ’93

As a philosopher who has garnered a national reputation in his field, Robert Talisse ’93, now an associate professor of philosophy and political science at Vanderbilt University, returned to his alma mater on September 4, the first day of the new semester, to discuss the meaning of higher education in a keynote lecture for faculty and administrators.

His address, presented in the Ballroom of the new University Commons building, was centered on whether a liberal education is elitist. He concluded that it was not.

“Philosophers tend to think that a liberal education must recognize at least one encounter with Socrates as a relentless questioner and lifelong learner,” said Talisse, a specialist in contemporary political philosophy. “Socrates and the dialogues are essential to our contemporary discussion of the democratic aims of liberal education. Socrates’s practice of questioning is a model of what a democratic citizenry should be. A liberal education is aimed at developing the habits of the mind—inquiry, rationality, and the ability to hold power accountable.”