Concepts and Persons

The Tanner Lectures are a collection of educational and scientific discussions relating to human values. Conducted by leaders in their fields, the lectures are presented at renowned institutions around the world, including the Universities of Oxford, Harvard, and Yale. In January 2019, University of Torontos Michael Lambek, professor, former Canada Research Chair, and member of the Royal Society of Canada, delivered the Tanner Lecture at the University of Michigans Department of Philosophy on the topic of Concepts and Persons.

As well as tracing his career in social and cultural anthropology, Lambeks Tanner Lecture spoke on the intersection of anthropology and philosophy as a means of articulating the moral basis of human action. By elucidating where anthropology and philosophy might intersect, Lambeks lecture is a profound examination of the human condition, and is beautifully captured in this publication.

Concepts and Persons recounts the lecture as delivered at the prestigious event, the commentary of three distinguished respondents, and Lambeks own response to that commentary. The books presentation of the lecture also includes a rich and layered set of notes that augment the lecture significantly, as well as additional clarification and thought that has developed since the event.

Foreword

Elizabeth Anderson, John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy and Womens Studies, University of Michigan

Commentators

Jonathan Lear, John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor at the Committee on Social Thought and in the Department of Philosophy, University of Chicago

Sherry B. Ortner, Distinguished Research Professor of Anthropology, UCLA

Joel Robbins, Sigrid Rausing Professor of Social Anthropology, Cambridge University, and Fellow, Trinity College