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30A Critical Utopia for Our Time: Discussing Star Trek’s Philosophy of Peace and JusticeThe Acorn 22 (1): 33-56. 2022.A discussion of José-Antonio Orosco’s new book, Star Trek’s Philosophy of Peace and Justice: A Global, Anti-Racist Approach. Orosco has been finding wisdom in Star Trek episodes since he watched late night reruns with his mother. Then, recently, in honor of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek’s debut, Orosco began to teach the series as source material for peace philosophy. Philosophical concepts can be brought to bear on Star Trek stories; but Orosco argues that the stories also assert philo…Read more
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28Can War Be Justified? A DebateRoutledge. 2023.Can war be justified? Pacifists answer that it cannot; they oppose war and advocate for nonviolent alternatives to war. But defenders of just war theory argue that in some circumstances, when the effectiveness of nonviolence is limited, wars can be justified. In this book, two philosophers debate this question, drawing on contemporary scholarship and new developments in thinking about pacifism and just war theory. Andrew Fiala defends the pacifist position, while Jennifer Kling defends just war …Read more
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28The Irony of Political PhilosophyPhilosophy in the Contemporary World 5 (1): 11-19. 1998.Political philosophy is a paradoxical attempt to bring reason to bear upon a subject matter that is irrational. This problem has been side-stepped by many contemporary political thinkers. Political theorists like Iris Young, Michael Sandel, Jean Elshtain, Robert Bork, and Richard Peterson acknowledge that contemporary political life, with its lack of democratic participation and its undemocratic, bureaucratic institutions, is undergoing a legitimation crisis. These theorists offer philosophical …Read more
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27Transformative Pacifism in Theory and Practice: Gandhi, Buber, and the Dream of a Great and Lasting PeaceDialogue and Universalism 26 (4): 133-148. 2016.Pacifists imagine a “great peace,” to borrow a phrase from Martin Buber. This great peace will uphold justice and respect for humanity. It will not efface difference or negate liberty and identity. The great peace will be a space in which genuine dialogue can flourish—in which we can encounter one another as persons, listen to one another, embrace our common humanity, and acknowledge our differences. The great peace is much more than the absence of war. It is holistic, organic, dialogical, and t…Read more
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26Moral Injury, Jus Ad Bellum, and Conscientious RefusalEssays in Philosophy 18 (2): 281-294. 2017.Although jus in bello violations create transgressive acts that cause moral injury, the primary consideration in thinking about moral injury should be jus ad bellum. If one is fighting in an ad bellum just war, then transgressive acts can be rationalized in a way that allows for consolation. But for morally sensitive combatants engaged in an ad bellum unjust war, consolation is more difficult since there is no way to justify or rationalize morally problematic deeds committed in defense of an unj…Read more
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25Citizenship, Epistemology, and the Just War TheoryLogos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 7 (2): 100-117. 2004.
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24Across the Tradition of PhilosophyEpoché: A Journal for the History of Philosophy 9 (1): 159-183. 2004.Hegel did not have an adequate appreciation of linguistic diversity. This lapse is linked to Hegel’s Eurocentric view of history and culture. Hegel’s view of language is considered within the context of Leibniz’s hope for a universal philosophical language, the metacritique of Kant, and Fichte’s linguistic nationalism. Hegel overcomes the sort of nationalism found in Fichte. And Hegel aspires toward the universal while recognizing the importance of concrete historical language. However, he does …Read more
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24Twenty Years of Philosophy in the Contemporary WorldPhilosophy in the Contemporary World 20 (2): 87-101. 2013.
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24Toward an Ethics of TimePhilosophy in the Contemporary World 7 (2-3): 33-41. 2000.This essay does not argue for any specific conception of time as ethically superior or significant, but argues that the conception of time we choose from among possible such conceptions has ethical consequences.
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24On Thinking Globally and Acting LocallyDialogue and Universalism 29 (1): 37-56. 2019.This paper considers the extent to which we already live in a cosmopolitan era. Resurgent nationalism is explained as a reactionary response to the success of cosmopolitanization. Cosmopolitanization is further explained as a dialectical process. Contemporary cosmopolitanism emerges against the backdrop of Eurocentric globalization associated with the colonial era. While the Eurocentric legacy must be rejected, it has left us with a cosmopolitan world. Other dialectical processes emerge in consi…Read more
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23Team Spirit, Team Chemistry, and NeuroethicsSport, Ethics and Philosophy 11 (3): 357-369. 2017.This paper examines the phenomenon of team spirit from a neurobiological point of view. It argues that ethical judgment should be involved in understanding and evaluating the idea. Adopting a liberal individualist point of view helps us understand the phenomenology of team spirit, while also helping us to articulate a critique of communitarian approaches that celebrate the sort of de-individuation that occurs in team spirit. The paper recognizes further complexity in terms of cross-cultural issu…Read more
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23Political Skepticism and Anarchist Themes in the American TraditionEuropean Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy 5 (2). 2013.This article describes a generally trend in American thought that is skeptical of social and political institutions. This trend can be described as a sort of philosophical anarchism. It develops out of pragmatist and skeptical criticism of absolutism in both philosophical and political systems. This paper traces this theme from its early roots in American Christian anarchism, through transcendentalists such as Emerson and Thoreau, and on to the work of William James and Jane Addams. It also outl…Read more
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21Aesthetic Education and the Aesthetic StateProceedings of the Hegel Society of America 14 171-185. 2000.A discussion of Hegel's aesthetics in light of Schiller's theory of aesthetic education--and which links aesthetics to politics, ethics, and the project of enlightenment.
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18Justice, Forgiveness, and Care: A Pragmatic BalanceEthical Perspectives 17 (4): 4. 2010.This paper argues for a pragmatic resolution to the conflict between justice and forgiveness. Authors such as Derrida, who see a paradox or aporia in the conflict between justice and forgiveness, often conceive each value in absolute terms. A pragmatic approach deemphasizes absolutism and focuses instead on pluralism and sensitivity to context. One useful example of a pragmatic approach is found in care ethics, as described by Noddings. Care ethics emphasizes the concrete specificity of relation…Read more
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18Sacrifice, Abandonment, and Historical NihilismJournal of the Philosophy of History 9 (1): 51-70. 2015.
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18God, Reason, and EthicsPhilosophy in the Contemporary World 15 (2): 72-81. 2008.This paper examines the relation between ethics and religion in light of Ralph Ellis’ critique of religious fundamentalism. It argues against the recent revival of Divine Command ethics. It claims that love is in fact a central value and experience for the ethical life. But it maintains that Ralph Ellis’ humanistic approach to love is preferable to a religious approach. This argument is articulated with reference to theodicy and the problem of evil. The paper concludes that the condition of fini…Read more
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16Practical pacifism and the war on terrorThe Humanist 62 (6): 14-16. 2002.Analyzes the reason violence, war and terrorism are evil. Definition of violence; Discussion on the question of higher purposes in the context of war; Description of terrorists' acts as war crimes; Arguments for a humanist approach to violence.
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14Against Religion, Wars, and States: The Case for Enlightenment Atheism, Just War Pacifism, and Liberal-Democratic AnarchismRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2013.Andrew Fiala's Against Religion, Wars, and States: The Case for Enlightenment Atheism, Just War Pacifism, and Liberal-Democratic Anarchism argues that we need to overcome the idea of the nation-state and look toward global justice, that we need to develop a more critical stance toward religion while embracing enlightened humanism and natural science, and that we need to look beyond violent solutions to social problems in order to build world peace
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14General Patton and Private Ryan: the conflicting reality of war and films about warIn David LaRocca (ed.), The philosophy of war films, University Press of Kentucky. 2014.From The Philosophy of War Films, page 335-354, available online: https://www.kentuckypress.com/live/title_detail.php?titleid=3324#.WBPirVdeCi4. Copyright?? 2014 by University of Kentucky Press.
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14Fichte and the UrspracheIn Daniel Breazeale & Tom Rockmore (eds.), After Jena: New Essays on Fichte's Later Philosophy, Northwestern University Press. 2008.
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14Citizenship and preemptive war: The lesson from Iraq (review)Human Rights Review 7 (4): 19-37. 2006.This paper argues that citizens should be wary of a policy of Reformed Preemption such as is found in the National Security Strategy of the United States. This policy is too permissive with regard to the use of force and it suffers from epistemological difficulties. The war in Iraq is examined in an effort to see how the new policy of Reformed Preemption will be employed in practice. This case shows us two risks of the new policy: it permits wars even when the threats are vague and merely potent…Read more
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13Bloomsbury Companion to Political Philosophy (edited book)Bloomsbury Academic. 2015.The Bloomsbury Companion to Political Philosophy is the definitive guide to contemporary political philosophy. The book covers all the most pressing and important themes and categories in the field - areas that have continued to attract interest historically as well as topics that have emerged more recently as active areas of research. Fourteen specially commissioned essays from an international team of experts, including Eduardo Mendieta and Gillian Brock, reveal where important work continues …Read more
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12Tyranny From Plato to Trump: Fools, Sycophants, and CitizensRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2022.Power grabs, partisan stand-offs, propaganda, and riots make for tantalizing fiction, but the US seems to have devolved into a land that celebrates real-life dictators. Applying historical lessons to contemporary events, Fiala uses the history of tyranny to reveal how we can safeguard ourselves against the draw of idealogues and their sycophants.
Areas of Specialization
Value Theory |
History of Western Philosophy |
Areas of Interest
Value Theory |
History of Western Philosophy |