Nationally recognized ethical theorist Peter French, the 2010 Jackson Center Visiting Ethicist at Coastal Carolina University, will give a talk titled "Torture," about the moral implications of interrogational torture. The lecture is set for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 20 at CCU's Wall Auditorium. The talk is free and open to the public.

French, professor of philosophy and director of the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at Arizona State University, will explore the ethical aspects of interrogational torture and its use by American agents in recent years. The primary focus of the discussion will be on the impact of interrogational torture on the will and personhood of the tortured. French will also consider the moral ramifications of interrogational torture and whether there is a moral defense for it.

French was the Lennox Distinguished Professor of the Humanities and professor of philosophy at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He has taught at Northern Arizona University, the University of Minnesota and at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. He also served as Exxon Distinguished Research Professor in the Center for the Study of Values at the University of Delaware.

French earned a bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg College, a master’s degree from the University of Southern California, a Ph.D. from the University of Miami, and also did postdoctoral work at Oxford University. He is the author of 19 books and a senior editor of Midwest Studies in Philosophy.

The event is sponsored by Coastal Carolina University’s Jackson Family Center for Ethics and Values. The purpose of the center is to cultivate and promote awareness in the community of the importance of personal and professional integrity. For more information, contact Claudia McCollough, director of the Jackson Center, at 843-349-2440.