June 2012 For immediate release Professor ponders politics and ethics at the Rose Bowl Politics expert,

Professor Paul Blackledge, is to deliver his inaugural lecture at Leeds Metropolitan University on Wednesday 13 June. The public lecture, held at the Universitys Rose Bowl and entitled Beyond the Impasse of the Modern Moral Point of View: Towards an Ethical Marxism, will examine the notion of a democratic socialist alternative to capitalism for modern society. Professor Blackledge commented: Modern life is beset by difficult moral questions, about issues as diverse as equality, freedom, and justice through debates over the rights of gays to marry and of women to have abortions, to questions of bankers bonuses. Because debates on these issues appear irresolvable, views on them are typically dismissed as mere value judgements - little more than personal opinions. The problem with this perspective is that through it we lose the ability to judge right from wrong and good from bad. Unfortunately, this does not mean that these debates go away, far from it they are resolved in the worst possible way, by power.

In his lecture, Professor Blackledge discusses the works of Marx and Aristotle to help navigate a way out of this situation. He argues that the dominant modern ways of thinking about morality are inadequate because they fail to fully understand the dehumanising consequences of capitalism. Professor

Blackledge suggests that the virtues required in modern society can only develop in opposition to capitalism.

Professor Blackledges research is within the classical Marxist tradition. A believer in the unity of theory and practice, he has been a member of the SWP since 1985 and a UCU (previously NATFHE) activist since joining Leeds Met, becoming branch secretary in 2010.

The lecture will take place from 5.30-7.30pm in the Rose Bowl Lecture Theatre A. For further information and to reserve a place, please contact eventsteam@leedsmet.ac.uk

Ends For further details please contact Carrie Braithwaite in the Communications team at Leeds Met on 0113 812 3022 or email c.braithwaite@leedsmet.ac.uk Notes for editors: Leeds Metropolitan University has over 15,000 students and around 3, 000 staff. The Vice Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University is Professor Susan Price and the Chair of the Board is Lord Woolmer of Leeds. Leeds Metropolitans four faculties are: Arts, Environment and Technology, Business & Law, Health and Social Sciences, and Carnegie. Leeds Metropolitans heritage can be traced back to the founding of the Mechanics Institute in Leeds in 1824. International students rated the University top in the UK for language support, accommodation quality and learning spaces in the 2010 Autumn Wave of the International Student Barometer and sixth in the world for the quality of its lectures. We have over 1,500 international students from 122 countries around the globe. The Universitys award-winning learning environments include

Broadcasting Place, which was voted the best tall building in the world in 2010 by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban

Habitat (CTBUH) and also winner of the 2010 Leeds Architecture Awards New Building category.