Thursday, October 24, 2013

Cyberwar ethics

Fritz Allhof, Patrick Lin, and B. J. Strawser get a grant to study Cyber War ethics.
(h/t Leiter Reports)  

Workshop in Warwick

The University of Warwick is organizing a workshop on Helen Frowe’s manuscript "Defensive Killing: An Essay on War and Self-Defence". The workshop will bring together moral, legal and political philosophers to discuss four chapters from the pre-final draft of Dr. Frowe's manuscript.

The four chapters will be read in advance and will not be presented. Each session will be introduced by a specialist, who will deliver comments on one of the chapters.

8 November 2013, Wolfson Research Exchange, University of Warwick

Programme

10:00-10:15 Arrival

10:15-10:30 Introduction

10:30-11:45 Vittorio Bufacchi (Cork) – “Threats and Bystanders”

11:45-12:15 Coffee

12:15-13:30 Victor Tadros (Warwick) – “Killing Innocent Threats”

13:30-14:30 Lunch

14:30-15:45 Jonathan Parry (Sheffield) – “War and Self-Defence”

15:45-16:15 Coffee

16:15-17:30 James Pattison (Manchester) – “Non-combatant Immunity”

The workshop is free of charge, but places are limited. If you'd like to attend, please register by sending an email to m.renzo@warwick.ac.uk

The workshop is generously sponsored by CELPA and the Society for Applied Philosophy.

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/research/celpa/news/

Friday, October 11, 2013

Graduate Reading Retreat (looks fun)

This came in the mail:

Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace

Graduate Reading Retreat

Cala Galdana, Menorca

19 - 20 September, 2014

The Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace invites submissions for its first Graduate Reading Retreat. Up to six places are available on a competitive basis for current or recent graduate students doing
philosophical research in the field of the ethics of war and peace. Those students whose papers are accepted will have their meals and accommodation covered, and receive a contribution towards travel (up to 3000 SEK (approx. £300) for those from within Europe, up to 7000 SEK (approx. 1000 USD) for those outside Europe). The Reading Retreat will be held at the Sol Gavilanes hotel in Cala Galdana, Menorca.

Each student will have a two hour session (including a 30 minute presentation) on their submitted paper. All papers will be pre-circulated and each student will be allocated a respondent from the invited faculty, who will provide both written comments and a short response during the session. The invited faculty this year are:

Invited Faculty:

David Rodin (ELAC, Oxford)

David R. Mapel (Political Science, UC Boulder)

Laura Valentini (Political Science, UCL)

Helen Frowe (Philosophy, Stockholm)

Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen (Politics, Aarhus)

Massimo Renzo (Philosophy, Warwick)

Those wishing to submit a paper should email it to helen.frowe@philosophy.su.se no later than 1st February 2014. Papers should be no longer than 10,000 words, excluding references, and should be suitable for blind-refereeing. Please include your name, email address and affiliation in the submitting email, along with a one page CV. You should also attach a letter from your supervisor or head of department confirming that as of the 1st of February 2014 you are registered as a graduate student or within six months of your viva, and confirming your year of study. Please do not include letters of reference or other supporting materials.

All enquiries should be sent to helen.frowe@philosophy.su.se.

--

Dr. Helen Frowe

Director, Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace

Wallenberg Academy Research Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Stockholm

Department of Philosophy

Stockholm University

SE - 10691 Stockholm, Sweden

helen.frowe@philoosphy.su.se

Gendered military robots

At The Washington Post's Monkey Cage Erica Chenowith has an opinion piece complaining that current military robots appear too masculine and that in turn reinforces gender stereotypes.

While I think I have something uninteresting to say about this (along the lines that psychology and military necessity should decide how these things look and sound) I would be interested in comments from the public. What say you? Does it matter what these things look like? Does making robots look aggressive in a masculine way make them bad for society? Should we sacrifice some aggressive efficiency for social betterment? Is a masculine look really telling women that they don't have a place in an aggressive military? If we needed something to look aggressive and we made it aggressive looking and also female, would that reinforce another stereotype about military women? Does the fault not lie with society who still thinks that looking masculine is an insult when said to women?. . .

Any thoughts?