← Back to Lectures & Seminars

In spring 2026 we had the privilege of meeting Robert George (a conservative legal scholar) and Cornel West (a progressive public intellectual) who are an ideological odd couple — friends who share a passion for the pursuit of truth. They believe that intellectual engagement and civil discourse should be at the center of our civic lives, and they lead by example, frequently appearing together to model constructive discussion of divisive issues.

Having spent that initial time together establishing the basis of their friendship as fellow seekers of truth, in this conversation, pastor Jason Harris asks professors George and West specific questions regarding how to develop robust conceptions of the truth, goodness, justice, and beauty (and their practical out-workings) against the backdrop of a popular culture that seems to prize a secular moral framework. This is not another political debate; it is an exploration of what it truly means to be a neighbor in a divided world. Rooted in a shared faith, this dialogue between brothers in Christ moves past the noise of the day to demonstrate what genuine civic friendship looks like.

Cornel West is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary. He is also Class of 1943 Professor of African American Studies Emeritus at Princeton University. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and obtained his MA and PhD in philosophy at Princeton. Professor West is best known for his classics "Race Matters" and "Democracy Matters." His memoir is entitled "Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud." He made his film debut in The Matrix and was the commentator (with Ken Wilbur) on the official trilogy released in 2004. He has made several spoken word albums including "Never Forget," collaborating with Prince, Jill Scott, Andre 3000, Bootsy Collins, and others. In 2021, he won a Grammy Award along with Arturo O’Farrill for the year’s best Latin Jazz Album. Professor West has a passion to communicate to keep alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. — a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice. Recently, Professor West received the high honor of being invited to give the famed Gifford Lectures in Scotland, known as “the Nobel Prize of philosophical lectures.”

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University. He has frequently been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, teaching philosophy of law and related subjects. In addition to his academic service, Professor George has served as Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He has also served on the President’s Council on Bioethics, as a presidential appointee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and as the U.S. member of UNESCO’s World Commission on the Ethics of Science and Technology. He currently chairs the New Jersey Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He is a former Judicial Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States, where he received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award.