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19Killing and Dying for Public RelationsConatus 8 (2): 521-543. 2023.My starting point is the first major American military action in World War II in Europe, “Operation Torch.” The action was controversial because the American military regarded it as militarily useless, if not counterproductive. But the military was overruled by President Roosevelt on the grounds that, while it was not militarily necessary, it was politically justified. This indifference to military necessity seems to violate standard rules about the legitimacy of military force. The larger quest…Read more
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5Nation-States, Empires, Wars, HostilitiesEthics and International Affairs 35 (3): 367-379. 2021.A starting point for thinking about war and preparations for war is that today the average citizen in Western countries has absolutely no interest in fighting in a war him or herself. The best study of this phenomenon rightly notes that what might be called the “great refusal” of ordinary people to involve themselves in actual war making reflects what might be called the “great disillusionment” with war itself. However, this has not meant the end of war, or of preparations for war, but rather wa…Read more
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10“Wretched Nurseries of Unceasing Discord”: Nationalism, War, and the Project of PeaceTheoretical Inquiries in Law 21 (2): 207-228. 2020.Is there an intimate connection between nationalism and war? Does the right to national self-determination invariably lead to bellicose relations with others? These have been central concerns in the literature on nationalism and war. They have also been concerns of political thinkers/activists who have worried about these connections and have sought to fashion a conception of national identity free of its warlike proclivities. This essay explores the link of war, nationalism, and national self-d…Read more
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15Emanuela Ceva’s Interactive JusticeCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 22 (4): 480-486. 2019.
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Life, Liberty, and Exploitation in Egalitarian EthicsRevue Internationale de Philosophie 43 (170): 390-408. 1989.
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Value, Capital and Crises: A Study in IdeologyDissertation, Boston University Graduate School. 1975.
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190Democratic Duty and the Moral Dilemmas of SoldiersEthics 122 (1): 10-42. 2011.This article explores the personal responsibility of soldiers for fighting in unjust wars. Its reference point is the position developed by Jeff McMahan in his recent Killing in War. I claim that McMahan fails to give sufficient importance to institutional justifications on this matter. I argue for this by developing what I call the argument to democratic duty, which I claim embodies much current thinking about the obligations of soldiers in a democratic culture. The upshot of my argument is tha…Read more
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1Moral equality, victimhood and the sovereignty symmetry problemIn David Rodin & Henry Shue (eds.), Just and Unjust Warriors: The Moral and Legal Status of Soldiers, Oxford University Press. 2008.
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43The One Who Burns Herself for PeaceHypatia 9 (2): 21-39. 1994.Alice Hertz was a woman who, in 1965, burned herself in protest against the Vietnam War. I first became aware of her through studying the writings of Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and a central figure in the history of nonviolence. In this essay I reflect on how Alice Hertz's action and Dorothy Day's vision of nonviolent commitment can each illuminate the other
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The State and War MakingIn John T. Sanders & Jan Narveson (eds.), For and Against the State: New Philosophical Readings, Rowman & Littlefield. 1996.
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The two faces of postmodernism or the difference between difference and othernessIn Steven Shankman & Massimo Lollini (eds.), Who, Exactly, is the Other ?: Western and Transcultural Perspectives: A Collection of Essays, University of Oregon Books/university of Oregon Humanities Center. 2002.
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80Self-Defense and the Obligations to Kill and to DieEthics and International Affairs 18 (1): 69-73. 2004.Building on Rodin's analysis, Ryan raise further issues about self-defense as a justification of modern nation state war. Principal among these is what he calls the "conscription paradox."
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4The Chickenhawk Syndrome: War, Sacrifice, and Personal ResponsibilityRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2009.The book treats the compelling question of war and personal responsibility in contemporary America. Cheyney Ryan examines how Americans often support modern warfare but have zero interest in fighting themselves . Ryan seeks to show how we must come to terms with our understanding and valuing of war when we ourselves are not committed to fighting in it
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21Hollywood Westerns and American Myth: The Importance of Howard Hawks and John Ford for Political Philosophy by pippin, robertJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 70 (3): 317-319. 2012.
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203Pacifism, Just War, and Self-DefensePhilosophia 41 (4): 1-29. 2013.This essay distinguishes two main forms of pacifism, personal pacifism and political pacifism. It then contrasts the views on self-defense of political pacifism and just war theory, paying special attention to notions of the state and sovereignty