On the Military's ethics crisis

. . . in The National Interest. 

Call for Publications

Call for Publications

Theme: Is the idea of peace relevant for the age of asymmetrical
warfare?
Publication: Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory
Date: Special Issue
Deadline: 1.7.2014

__________________________________________________

Since the end of World War II, most military conflict has been
asymmetrical in nature (that is between a state actor on the one hand
and a non-state entity or network of such entities on the other).
Examples range from the Algerian War of Independence against the
French to the recent American engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When this is the face of war, is the idea of peace (with its classic
cosmopolitan features regarding finality of claims, mutual
recognition, the creation of lasting legal arrangements to enforce
agreements and cooperation between former enemies) still relevant?
Does it make sense to talk about a conflict with the Taliban or Al
Qaeda terminating in a state of peace? If our idea of peace needs to
be revised, how should we revise it? Does it need to be supplemented
by other ideas? Which ideas? Can the concept of peace still serve as
a useful regulative ideal even when it becomes further and further
removed from how wars actually wind down?

Please submit papers of no more than 9,000 words to
theoriasa@gmail.com by July 1st, 2014. Papers should be formatted for
blind review and should follow Theoria's House formatting rules.
These are available here:
http://journals.berghahnbooks.com/_uploads/th/th_style_guide.pdf

Guest Editor: Nir Eisikovits, Suffolk University
Email: theoriasa@gmail.com

Call for papers

Call for Papers: 

Is the idea of peace relevant for the age of asymmetrical warfare?

A special Issue of Theoria, A Journal of Social and Political Theory

Nir Eisikovits, Suffolk University, Guest Editor

Since the end of World War II, most military conflict has been asymmetrical in nature (that is between a state actor on the one hand and a non-state entity or network of such entities on the other). Examples range from the Algerian War of Independence against the French to the recent American engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

When this is the face of war, is the idea of peace (with its classic cosmopolitan features regarding finality of claims, mutual recognition, the creation of lasting legal arrangements to enforce agreements and cooperation between former enemies) still relevant? Does it make sense to talk about a conflict with the Taliban or Al Qaeda terminating in a state of peace? If our idea of peace needs to be revised, how should we revise it? Does it need to be supplemented by other ideas? Which ideas? Can the concept of peace still serve as a useful regulative ideal even when it becomes further and further removed from how wars actually wind down?

Please submit papers of no more than 9,000 words to theoriasa@gmail.com by July 1st, 2014. Papers should be formatted for blind review and should follow Theoria's House formatting rules. These are available here: http://journals.berghahnbooks.com/_uploads/th/th_style_guide.pdf

Call for papers

C A L L   F O R   P A P E R S   

DE ETHICA

A JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND APPLIED ETHICS

www.de-ethica.com

Special Issue: "The Ethics of War and Peace"

 

De Ethica is a new journal seeking to publish scholarly works at the intersections of philosophical, theological and applied ethics. It is a fully peer-reviewed, open-access publication hosted by Linköping University Electronic Press. We are committed to making papers of high academic quality accessible to a wide audience.

De Ethica is published in cooperation with Societas Ethica, the European Society for Research in Ethics. Societas Ethica was founded in Basel, Switzerland in 1964; today it has more than 200 members from more than 20 countries, representing a variety of theological and philosophical traditions. The annual conferences of Societas Ethica draw speakers from across the globe and provide a lively forum for intellectual exchange. Like Societas Ethica, De Ethica aims to create dialogue across national, political, and religious boundaries.

The first issue in the 2015 volume will be devoted to the theme of this year’s Societas Ethica Annual Conference: “The Ethics of War and Peace.” (http://www.societasethica.info/annual-conference-2014?l=en) A non-exhaustive list of possible topics includes: 

• The roots of war (human aggression, religious and ideological motivations, etc.)
• Theories of just war (jus as bellum, jus in bello; religious and philosophical perspectives, including questions about humanitarian intervention)
• The rules of war (the treatment of prisoners, child soldiers, the arms trade, etc.)
• New forms of warfare (cyber war, the use of drones, etc.)
• War and profit (the privatization of war, arms exports, etc.)
• Ending war (peacemaking and reconciliation including religious and secular contributions, war tribunals)
• Pacifism

The deadline for the thematic issue is November 15, 2014. All submissions will be subjected to rigorous blind review. Submissions should be between 4,000 and 8,000 words in length. All submissions must be appropriately anonymized and should be accompanied by a separate file containing an abstract of 150 to 200 words and all relevant author information. For more information about layout, style, and the submission and review process, please see the Instructions for Authors: http://www.de-ethica.com/instructions_for_authors/default.asp  

De Ethica is committed to a speedy and author-friendly review process; in most cases, the editors will notify the authors of their decision within three months.

Please send submissions only to our assistant editor, Heidi Jokinen (submissions@de-ethica.com). General comments and enquiries about the journal should be directed to Marcus Agnafors (executive.editor@de-ethica.com) or Maren Behrensen (associate.editor@de-ethica.com).

Editor in Chief

Brenda Almond (University of Hull, United Kingdom)

Executive Editor

Marcus Agnafors (Linköping University, Sweden)

Associate Editor

Maren Behrensen (Linköping University, Sweden)

Assistant Editor

Heidi Jokinen (Åbo Akademi University, Finland)

           

Editorial Board

Göran Collste (Linköping University, Sweden)

Marcus Düwell (Universiteit Utrecht, the Netherlands)

Raimond Gaita (University of Melbourne, Australia; and King’s College London, United Kingdom)

Hille Haker (Loyola University Chicago, United States; and Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Germany)

Robert Heeger (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)

Neil Messer (Winchester University, United Kingdom)

Michael Northcott (University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)

Philip Pettit (Princeton University, United States)

Hans Ulrich (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany)

Peter Vallentyne (University of Missouri, United States)

Hinman reviews Primoratz on Terrorism

Lawrence M. Hinman reviews Igor Primoratz's Terrorism: A Philosophical Intriduction here. 

Teaching military ethics properly

Here is a story in the NY Times that describes a military ethics course that is being taught properly: It is being co-taught by a young, but competent philosopher (I've met Mr. Pence and I know his work) and a retired Air Force Major General. Kudos to Notre Dame for making this possible.

Too many classes in applied ethics are taught by people who either know nothing about ethics or about the subject they are talking about. Too many academic papers in applied ethics (military ethics, bioethics, computer ethics, business ethics, etc) are written by people who are experts in one and think the other is trivial. I hope Mr. Pence and MG Latiff get to take a close look at the literature in military ethics together and write something useful. 

Conference announcement: Ethics, War, and Intervention

Got this in an email:

Conference announcement: Ethics, War, and Intervention

Friday 30th May 2014

University of Birmingham

Keynote speaker: Professor Jeff McMahan

Call for abstracts:

The Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) at the University of Birmingham is pleased to announce a one-day conference on the ethics of war and intervention. Papers on any aspect of the ethics of war, conflict and intervention will be considered. We particularly welcome papers which speak to the work of Jeff McMahan, and those which speak to some aspect of the ‘security threats’ sub-strand of our current ‘Saving Humans’ research theme (for which, please see the link below).

The IAS works to foster inter-disciplinary engagement, and wide-ranging academic partnerships. We therefore encourage papers with cross-disciplinary reach and significance, and from scholars of all levels. Reasonable travel and accommodation costs will be reimbursed for accepted speakers.

Please send abstracts of no more than 500 words by 21st March 2014 to ias@contacts.bham.ac.ukias@contacts.bham.ac.uk

>

Registration:

The conference is free of charge. However, space at the conference is limited, and registration is required. To register, please go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ethics-war-and-intervention-conference-the-institute-of-advanced-studies-saving-humans-tickets-10506843251.

Public lecture:

Following the conference, at 5pm, Jeff McMahan will deliver a public lecture, entitled ‘The Ethics of Humanitarian Intervention: With Comments on Syria’. This will be held at The Barber Institute of Fine Art. Admission to this event is also free, but due to anticipated demand, early registration is strongly advised. To register for the lecture, please go tohttps://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ethics-war-and-intervention-with-comments-on-syria-professor-jeff-mcmahan-tickets-10486819359.

Contact for inquiries: Jeremy Williams (j.s.williams@bham.ac.ukj.s.williams@bham.ac.uk>)

Jeff McMahan is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow of Saving Humans, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Birmingham. He is the author of The Ethics of Killing: Problems at the Margins of Life (Oxford University Press, 2002) and Killing in War (Oxford University Press, 2009). He has several other books forthcoming from Oxford University Press, including a collection of essays called The Values of Lives, a book on war intended for both academic and non-academic readers called The Right Way to Fight, and a sequel to his 2002 book called The Ethics of Killing: Self-Defense, War, and Punishment.

Links:

‘Saving Humans’ at the IAS: http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/ias/saving-humans/index.aspx

The ‘Saving Humans’ Blog: http://savinghumans.org

-----------------------------------------------
Dr. Jeremy Williams,
Leverhulme Early Career Fellow/Birmingham Fellow,
Department of Philosophy,
ERI Building,
University of Birmingham,
Birmingham B15 2TT.

For graduate students studying military ethics

I received this in an email:

Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace
Graduate Reading Retreat
Cala Galdana, Menorca
19 - 20 September, 2014

Deadline for submissions: 1st March 2014

Call for Papers:

The Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace will host an annual Reading Retreat for graduate students (or those who have very recently obtained their PhD) doing philosophical work in the field of the ethics of war and peace. 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. Any student who has their paper accepted will receive a generous contribution towards their travel, and will have the costs of all their meals and accommodation covered.

The 2014 Retreat will be held at the Sol Gavilanes hotel in Cala Galdana, Menorca on the 19 - 20th of September, 2014 .
The invited faculty are:

David Rodin (ELAC, Oxford)
David R. Mapel (Political Science, UC Boulder)
Laura Valentini (Government, LSE)
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 March 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 March 2014 you are registered as a graduate student or had your viva within the last six months, and confirming your year of study. Please do not include letters of reference or other supporting materials.

Please forward this to your graduate students. Any enquiries should be directed to Helen Frowe (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
helen.frowe@philosophy.su.se