CAPE Spring Lecture

'Feed the Soul: Lessons from Aristotle on Living Well'

with Nancy Sherman (Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Philosophy, Georgetown University)

Wednesday, March 25, 4 p.m.

Clippinger Laboratories Rm 194

Abstract: Aristotle is the giant of Western thought. Antiquity knew him as “The First Teacher” and “The Philosopher.” His curiosity about the natural and social world is truly astounding and teaches us all to be curious and to desire to understand. With Aristotle as my guide, I will explore the foundational questions of all Greco-Roman ethics and the questions many of us struggle with every day: What is it to flourish? What is it to live a good life? How do we explore nature without exploiting it? How do we tell jokes without cruel mockery? How do we play without hurting? How do we cultivate friendships that help us grow? What does it mean to feed the soul?

About Nancy Sherman

Nancy Sherman is Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. She has an affiliate appointment with Georgetown Law’s Center on National Security and the Law. A New York Times Notable Author, her most recent book is Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience (2021). Her forthcoming title is Feed the Soul: Lessons from Aristotle on Living Well (Yale, Jan. 2026).  Other books include Afterwar: Healing the Moral Wounds of Our Soldiers; The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of our Soldiers (a NYT editors’ pick); Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind; Making a Necessity of Virtue, and The Fabric of Character. She is the editor of Critical Essays on the Classics: Aristotle's Ethics. From 1997-1999, she served as the inaugural Distinguished Chair in Ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy. Sherman is the author of over 70 articles in the area of ethics, military ethics, the history of moral philosophy, ancient ethics, the emotions, moral psychology, and psychoanalysis. 

Sherman has written for and been interviewed by the NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Chronicle for Higher Education, New Statesman, Prospect Magazine, Time Magazine, Foreign Policy, and contributes frequently to many other media outlets in the U.S. and abroad.  Her NY Times essays were among those selected for The Stone Reader. She is a frequent guest on podcasts.  She has delivered over 60 named or keynote lectures and plenary addresses here and abroad, and scores of other lectures around the world.

Sherman has received numerous honors and awards for her work. She was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Wilson Center, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council for Learned Societies, the Mellon Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, The Charlotte Newcombe Fellowship (of the Institute for Citizens and Scholars), and NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts. In 2005, she visited Guantanamo Bay Detention Center as part of an expert independent observer team assessing the medical and mental health care of detainees. She consults and advocates on behalf of the mental health of service members and veterans in the U.S. and abroad. Sherman lectures internationally on ancient philosophy, military ethics, moral injury, the moral psychology of war, and the emotions.

Sherman holds a Ph.D. from Harvard in ancient philosophy where she received an award for the most distinguished thesis in the area of the history of philosophy, a B.A. magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr College, and an M.Litt. from the University of Edinburgh. She has training in psychotherapy from the Washington Center for Psychoanalysis. She taught at Yale as an assistant and associate professor before joining the Georgetown faculty and has been a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland.

For more, see www.nancysherman.com