Global Ethics Lecture – Prof. Larry S. Temkin
Date: Friday, 30 May 2025
Time: 5pm – 6pm
Venue: NUHS Tower Block, Auditorium, Level 1
Biography
Larry S. Temkin is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at Rutgers. He graduated number one from the University of Wisconsin/Madison, before pursuing graduate studies at Oxford and Princeton. Temkin is the author of Inequality, Rethinking the Good: Moral Ideals and the Nature of Practical Reasoning, and Being Good in a World of Need. Temkin delivered Oxford’s 2017 Uehiro Lectures, and has lectured for the World Health Organization, the World Bank, the NIH, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Temkin’s individualistic approach to inequality has been adopted by the World Health Organization and the Gates Foundation in measuring the Global Burden of Disease. Temkin has received fellowships from Harvard’s Safra Center for Ethics, All Souls College, the NIH, the ANU, the National Humanities Center, the Danforth Foundation, Corpus Christi College Oxford, and Princeton’s Center for Human Values, where he was Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching.
Abstract
This talk presents one particular conception of egalitarianism, which I call Equality as Comparative Fairness, and discusses various important issues regarding the relation between equality, health, and health care. Among the issues discussed are the role that health should play in thinking about equality and vice versa; the importance of giving weight to both equality of wellbeing and equality of opportunity; the relation between equality of opportunity and the “first come, first served” principle in the delivery of health care; and the relations between equality, fairness, luck, individual responsibility, and rationing in the context of scarce medical resources. The talk illuminates the appeal of certain egalitarian considerations, as well as the possible relevance and implications of those considerations for health, health policy, and the distribution of health care.
Summary Report
Professor Larry S. Temkin, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Rutgers, delivered the third Global Ethics Lecture, organised by the NUS Centre for Biomedical Ethics, on 30 May 2025. Professor Temkin presented one distinct conception of egalitarianism, Equality as Comparative Fairness, and its relationship with health, health policy and the distribution of health care. His lecture was divided into four main areas: (i) Equality as Comparative Fairness, (ii) the importance of health, (iii) the relationship between equality of well-being, equality of opportunity, and the “first-come, first-served” principle, and (iv) individual responsibility and the distribution of scarce medical resources.
About the writer
Bryson holds a MA in Philosophy from Nanyang Technological University, and a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Yale-NUS College. His research interests lie in normative and applied ethics, political philosophy, and vice epistemology. He is especially interested in topics related to moral progress, and the relationship between ethics and public policy.