FASPE and MJH Present Talk by Legal Ethicist David Luban on The Power of Bureaucrats: From Adolf Eichmann to the Present

NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- FASPE and MJH present a talk by David Luban, one of America's leading legal ethicists, on "The Power of Bureaucrats: From Adolf Eichmann to the Present," in conjunction with the MJH's exhibit, "Operation Finale: The Capture & Trial of Adolf Eichmann."

From his desk in Berlin, Adolf Eichmann organized the mass deportation and genocide of Jews across Europe during World War II. Luban, professor of law and philosophy at Georgetown Law, will discuss and draw contemporary lessons from the ways in which Eichmann's power grew out of the bureaucratic authority established by the Third Reich to enable him to become one of history's most infamous war criminals.

FASPE (Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics) runs five innovative fellowship programs in business, journalism, law, medicine, and religion that challenge graduate students and early-career professionals to confront their ethical responsibilities by analyzing the decisions and actions of Nazi-era professionals. FASPE Fellows participate in an intensive two-week study trip to Germany and Poland where they examine contemporary ethical issues in their respective fields by first studying the actions of their professional counterparts in Europe in the period of 1933-1945. Currently entering its eighth year of operation, FASPE has over 400 alumni and receives close to 1,000 applications for its five programs each year.

"FASPE explores the actions of the perpetrators to highlight how the moral codes governing the professions can break down with devastating consequences," said Thorin Tritter, FASPE's executive director, "Adolf Eichmann is a prime example of someone whose willingness to break with ethical codes had a devastating impact on the larger society."

David Luban, who serves on FASPE's Academic Committee, is known for his work on moral and legal responsibility in organizational settings, including law firms, government, and the military. In addition to legal ethics, Luban also writes on just war theory, national security, and international criminal law. His most recent book, Torture, Power, and Law (Cambridge University Press, 2014), won the American Publishers Association PROSE Award for professional and scholarly excellence in philosophy. Luban's other books include Legal Ethics and Human Dignity (Cambridge University Press, 2007) Legal Modernism (University of Michigan Press, 1994), and Lawyers and Justice: An Ethical Study (Princeton University Press, 1988).

Currently a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Luban has been a Guggenheim Fellow and a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center, and he has received awards for his scholarship from the American Bar Foundation and the New York State Bar Association. Luban is on the editorial boards of Ethics & International Affairs and Legal Ethics, and is a Founding Editor of the weblog Just Security. Luban has testified before both houses of the U.S. Congress and is a frequent speaker in the United States and abroad.

"Operation Finale," on view at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust through January 14, documents the secret history behind the capture, extradition, and trial of Adolf Eichmann, drawing attention to the enormity of the crimes committed during the Nazi regime and calling on the viewer to consider the meaning of justice and accountability.

To learn more about FASPE, please visit www.faspe-ethics.org.

Contact:
Talia Bloch
Communications Manager
646-571-2199
[email protected]

SOURCE FASPE - Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics

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http://www.faspe-ethics.org