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Anthropology

Religion, Truth, and Liberty

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Samuel Gregg, Director of Research at the Acton Institute, delivers the opening plenary lecture of Acton University 2017 at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. Gregg’s lecture focuses on the very real threats faced by religious believers around the world (and especially in developing nations), and the pressures that are increasing on religious liberty

What Does Christianity Have To Offer The Poor?

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On Thursday, June 22 2017, the Acton Institute presented a panel discussion on the topic of what Christianity has to offer the poor. Panelists included Michael Wear, founder of Public Square Strategies LLC; Anne Rathbone Bradley, Vice President of Economic Initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics; Elizabeth Bruenig, Assistant Editor of the

Human Dignity and American Liberty

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On June 20, 2013, William McGurn, the Editorial Page Editor of The New York Post, delivered a plenary address to participants in Acton University at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Prior to assuming the editorship of the Editorial Page of the New York Post, he was a vice president for News Corporation, where he

Cultural Entrepreneurship

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Why does the West prosper while nations in Africa and other parts of the globe remain poor? A country’s economic success is correlated with its ranking on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index. Unsurprisingly, the United States ranks highly on this index, while most nations in Sub-Saharan Africa impose tremendous restrictions on their

A Moral Surprise: The Common Foundation of Christianity and Modern Politics

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Dr. William B. Allen Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy, Michigan State University. William B. Allen, emeritus professor of Political Philosophy in the Department of Political Science and emeritus dean, James Madison College, at Michigan State University. He served previously on the United States National Council for the Humanities and as Chairman and Member of the

The Tocqueville Option: Social and Technological Decentralization (Engage the Speaker AU2021)

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Engage the Speaker Session for “The Tocqueville Option: Social and Technological Decentralization” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. This lecture addresses Alexis de Tocqueville’s concerns about individualism and centralization in democratic life, and argues that part of our response to the cultural challenges of today is to build revitalize civil society with new associations and mutual

The Fire of Invention: Intellectual Property and the Power of Human Beings (Engage the Speaker AU2021)

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Engage the Speaker Session for “The Fire of Invention: Intellectual Property and the Power of Human Beings” (AU2021). Original Lecture description below. In the realm of invention and technology, what makes the difference between good and evil, prosperity and destruction, is not the material world itself but the way in which humans exercise our rational,

Artificial Intelligence, Religion, and Anthropology

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Artificial intelligence and machine learning brings great promise. But what is artificial intelligence, and how does machine learning differ from human learning? How does religious faith inform our approach to artificial intelligence? What are we to make of transhumanist claims of a merger of humans and machines? This panel examines AI, religion, and anthropology.

Foundations Panel

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Join Dr. Anne Rathbone Bradley, Dr. Samuel Gregg, and Michael Matheson Miller as they engage in a Question and Answer session about Acton University’s four Foundational Lectures: 1) A Christian Vision of Government, 2) An Introduction to Natural Law, 3) The Economic Way of Thinking, and 4) A Christian Vision of the Human Person.

The Tocqueville Option: Social and Technological Decentralization

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This lecture addresses Alexis de Tocqueville’s concerns about individualism and centralization in democratic life, and argues that part of our response to the cultural challenges of today is to build revitalize civil society with new associations and mutual aid societies. It also looks at the possible role that distributed ledger technology/blockchain could play in promoting

Work as a Calling

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Does God care about my work? Oye Waddell looks into the biblical examples of work and calling and practically promotes those ideas to further the kingdom. Waddell explains how our work can serve others and contribute to human flourishing in a God honoring way.

The Pursuit of Happiness

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In this lecture, Jay Richards, Ph.D. connects Aristotle’s account of happiness with modern sociological and psychological surveys of happiness, and explains how they overlap and differ. He then explores how our work, especially in a high tech information economy, can contribute to both our happiness, and the happiness of others.