News & Events

Philosophers Speak Talk on Just War Theory and Military Ethics
Seton Hall > News & Events 

Thursday, October 22, 2009
by: Dr. Abe Zakhem

On Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 5 p.m.–6 p.m. in the Science and Technology Center Amphitheatre, the Department of Philosophy and the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences will feature another speaker in the Philosophers Speak lecture series. This lecture brings to campus the internationally renowned Jeff McMahan, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers, The State University.

Dr. McMahan will deliver a lecture entitled “Proportionality in Self-Defense and War” and in doing so will challenge some conventional beliefs in just war theory. This lecture should be of interest to anyone concerned about the relationship between morality and war in a contemporary context.

Dr. McMahan is one of the world's leading philosophers in the areas of just war theory, military ethics, political philosophy, normative ethics and legal theory. He is the author of numerous publications on such topics as terrorism, torture, humanitarian intervention, preventive war and the war in Iraq, crime and punishment, and nuclear deterrence, including the acclaimed books Killing in War (Oxford, 2009), The Ethics of Killing (Oxford, 2002), and The Morality of Nationalism (Oxford, 1997).

Dr. McMahan received a B.A. in English from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. After being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, he then received a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University, followed by an M.A. in Philosophy from Oxford and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Cambridge University.

Please join us for the event and a wine and cheese reception to follow.

Partial funding for this event has been provided by the College of Arts and Sciences thanks to the generous support of the President's Advisory Council members.

For more information please contact:
Dr. Abe Zakhem, Department of Philosophy
(973) 761-9480
Abe.Zakhem@shu.edu