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[Woodstock Report, March 1998, No. 53]
This issue of the Woodstock Report features a presentation of an exciting new program area at Woodstock. It is entitled "Ethics and Public Policy" and it will be run by a "troika," a three person team. Lobbying is the first issue they will address. Each of them brings to this program life experience, academic training, and personal talents quite different from the others.
We hear first from Tom Reese, S.J., a political scientist, who first came to Washington to work as a lobbyist for tax reform. The second presenter is Michael McCarthy, a professor at Vassar College specializing in political philosophy. Finally, Phil Lacovara has had a distinguished legal career in both the private sector and the public sector. Of special relevance to this program is his experience as counsel to the special prosecutor during the Watergate hearings.
The order in which they speak and their areas of expertise are related. Philosopher-theologian Bernard Lonergan, S.J., explains why:
Between social science [Tom] and social policy [Phil] [comes] ... social ethics [Michael] .... The ethics adds the value judgments from which social science rigidly abstains and by which social policy should be guided. ("The Example of Gibson Winter," A Second Collection, pp.189ff., University of Toronto Press, 1996) [I have added the names in bold, of course!]
Social scientist Tom Reese is primarily responsible not only for getting the basic facts straight but figuring out how the system (in this case lobbying) actually works. Michael McCarthy, the political philosopher, has the primary responsibility for asking what all this means (purpose) and what it's worth (value). Finally, Phil Lacovara is the person of practical affairs who asks, "What is to be done about this (policy and/or action) to improve the system?" This unfolding series (fact - value - decision) is the method Woodstock uses in all its projects. Given their gifts, Tom, Michael, and Phil are ideally suited to do it well.
Also in this issue you will meet an extraordinary combination of scientific rigor and religious belief in the person of Doctor Malcolm Jeeves, an internationally renowned neuropsychologist. His presentation at a recent Woodstock Forum was co-sponsored by the Georgetown University Center for the Study of Science and Religion, directed by Professor John Haught. It was partially funded by the Templeton Foundation. As one who is scientifically illiterate, I am strengthened in my faith to know a gifted and accomplished scholar who combines solid science with firm faith!
Also, in this issue you'll find a description of two recent publications: Father Walter Burghardt's latest collection of homilies, Let Justice Roll Down Like Waters, published by Paulist Press, and proceedings from a Woodstock colloquium entitled "Forgiveness in Conflict Resolution: Reality and Utility."
Happy reading, and keep our works in your prayers. Be sure, as well, of our prayers for you in this joyous Easter season!
James L. Connor, S.J.