The Last Lecture’s Ethics Lessons
Randy Pausch died today (July 25) of pancreatic cancer. He wasn’t a media mogul, journalist or media critic. He wasn’t an ethicist or character coach. Randy Pausch was a computer science professor and self-described nerd. He was also the author of the improbable best-seller “The Last Lecture.” I never met Randy Pausch, but his book strikes me as a simple guide to leading a life of purpose, driven by value. He wrote about living so that one is cognizant of consequences.
The Last Lecture is based on Dr. Pausch’s presentationlast lecture given at Carnegie Mellon University. Typically, universities invite high-profile professors to address a public audience with a talk that might be their “last lecture” including topics that matter most to them. The New York Times describes Randy Pausch opening his last lecture with the news that he had terminal cancer and then delivering a funny and uplifting speech. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/last-lecture-professor-randy-pausch-dies-at-47/?hp
One clear message in the Last Lecture is that living a life of purpose involves respecting others (similar to William David Ross’s theory of value and duties to each other as human beings.) Another of Pausch’s observations involves the breezy advice to “be a communitarian.” The book, written with Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow and published by Hyperion, is filled with gems that have ethics underpinnings. See, for example, all of Part V titled “It’s About How to Live Your Life.”
For those who work in media, teach journalism or ponder ethics, Dr. Pausch had good advice. Or at least good material to ponder.
Randy Pausch was 47. He leaves a wife and three young children.
In the talks, professors typically talk about issues that matter most to them. Dr. Pausch opened his talk with the news that he had terminal cancer and proceeded to deliver an uplifting, funny talk about his own childhood dreams and how to help his children and others achieve their own goals in life. He learned he had pancreatic cancer in September, 2006.
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