The Aspen Seminar on Values and Society, conducted in English and held in collaboration with The Aspen Institute, followed the same format as the seminar held in Moltrasio (Como) on March 5-7, 2010. Aimed at a diverse group of participants, the event involved members of the Aspen Junior Fellows and young leaders from Italy and abroad. The debate was significantly enriched by the diversity of the participants’ personal and professional backgrounds and nationalities.
On the basis of an analysis and discussion of twenty-one selected readings from classical and contemporary thinkers, the participants examined the major universal values and debated their relationship with the burning issues of today. The discussion progressed from an analysis of the relationship between human nature, the State and civil society (with a consideration of writings by Aristotle, Hobbes and Rousseau), to an examination of ethical issues and various approaches to leadership (based on the interpretation of texts by Plato and Martin Luther King). The future prospects of contemporary social and economic models were also discussed (with readings of a selection of texts by various authors including Hayek, de Soto, Said and Havel). Finally, the performance by the participants of an extract from Sophocles’ Antigone provided an innovative springboard for an exploration of the conflict between natural law and State-promulgated law, with a view to pinpointing the delicate balance to be struck between the exercise of leadership and the affirmation of individual rights.
The discussion was guided by two moderators: Leigh Hafrey, Senior Lecturer in Behavioral and Policy Sciences at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and Howard Zeiderman, President of the Touchstones Discussion Project.