Symposium on the Williams Committee Report on Obscenity and Film Censorship: 40 Years On

"I did all the major vices - gambling, drugs, pornography and public schools" - Bernard Williams

The YTL Centre hosts a symposium to mark the 40th anniversary of the Williams Committee report on Obscenity and Film Censorship, which was chaired by the eminent philosopher Bernard Williams. The symposium will consist of two panels. The first will explore the broader historical context of the report, including the role of philosophers as public intellectuals in post-War Britain. The second will focus on the substance of the report, especially its proposal that material may be restricted if it would cause offense to reasonable people. The symposium will be followed, at 6pm, by a lecture by Professor Fred Schauer entitled 'On Liberty: The Case of Pornography', for which separate registration is required.

Date: 7 February 2019 
Time: 2.00pm - 5.45pm
Venue: SW1.18, Somerset House East Wing, The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London, Strand Campus 

Programme:

2.00-3.45: Historical Context and Philosophers as Public Intellectuals 

Speakers: Professor Teresa Bejan (Politics, University of Oxford), David Cooke (former Director of the British Board of Film Classification), Dr Nakul Krishna (University of Cambridge). 

4.00-5.45: Offensiveness to Reasonable People

Speakers: Professor Ned Lebow (War Studies, KCL), Professor Onora O'Neill (Philosophy, University of Cambridge), and Fred Schauer (School of Law, University of Virginia).

 

This event is open to the public and everybody is welcome to attend, though everyone must register.

Seats are allocated on a strictly first come, first served basis. 

If you find you can no longer attend please cancel your ticket registration, so that someone else can have your place.