Join two leading thinkers, Yale Law School professors Tony Kronman (author, The Assault on American Excellence, 2019) and Daniel Markovits (author, The Meritocracy Trap, 2019) as they present alternative sides of a debate on an issue of significance to contemporary society. They will address themes explored by our late classmate Bill Henry in his 1994 book, In Defense of Elitism. Our classmate Kurt Schmoke will moderate this webinar.
Anthony Kronman is Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Dean of Yale Law School from 1994 to 2004, Professor Kronman currently teaches in the areas of contracts, bankruptcy, jurisprudence, social theory, and professional responsibility. A graduate of Williams College, he earned the Ph.D. in Philosophy from Yale in 1972 and the J.D. from Yale Law School in 1975. In reviewing The Assault on American Excellence, Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy wrote, “An extraordinary book that is sure to launch many impassioned conversations. Kronman brings erudition, eloquence, and candor to bear on the most controversial subjects roiling our campuses. He unflinchingly defends elitism in academia, maintaining that doing so is essential not only to the maintenance of scholarly standards, but to the strengthening of democratic values. His arguments are brilliant, arresting, memorable. Although I do not agree with all that he wrote, I gained instruction on nearly every page.” And reviewing the book in Yale Alumni Magazine, Mary Worthen wrote, “He believes in the ‘rule of the best’ as America’s top universities have long defined it: an unabashed elitism that elevates ‘character, wisdom, and excellence’ over the pursuit of wealth and power… [H]is discussion of free speech is an essential guide for all who work in higher education today. A seminar discussion is not a debate, not a therapy session, but ‘a joint enterprise’ in which students and teachers seek truth by collaborating ‘in the production of something whose authorship they share’… At its best, this ‘conversational ideal’ is the democratic gateway to Kronman’s aristocracy of excellence.”
Daniel Markovits is Guido Calabresi Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He works in the philosophical foundations of private law, moral and political philosophy, and behavioral economics. He received the B.A. from Yale in 1991 summa cum laude (with distinction in mathematics), M.Sc. from London School of Economics, B.Phil. (1994) and D.Phil. (1999) from Oxford in Philosophy, and J.D. from Yale Law School in 2000. In reviewing, The Meritocracy Trap, Harvard Law Professor Michael J. Sandel wrote, “Daniel Markovits has written a bold, brave critique of the meritocracy-backed version of inequality that prevails today. He argues persuasively that meritocracy is destructive and demoralizing for winners and losers alike. Challenging conventional wisdom, Markovits shows that technological change is not a fact of nature that happens to increase the value of highly credentialed workers; instead, the prevalence of credentialed elites calls forth technologies that bias the labor market in their favor and hollow out the middle class. This is a splendid book that should prompt soul-searching among meritocrats.” Yale Law Professor James Forman Jr. wrote, “The system is rigged. And the culprit, Daniel Markovits argues, is meritocracy—the same ideal that was supposed to promote fairness.”
Kurt Schmoke will moderate. He has served as President of the University of Baltimore since 2014 and served Howard University as Dean of its School of Law (2003-2012), and as Senior Vice President and then as interim Provost. He has held various appointed and elected positions in local, state, and federal government, notably as Mayor of Baltimore from 1987 to 1999. He received the B.A. from Yale in 1971, Dipl. From Oxford in 1973 (Rhodes Scholar), and J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1976.