Ethics & International Affairs Volume 23.4 (Winter 2009)

Date: 12/15/09

Ethics & International Affairs, Volume 23.4

In the summer of 2008, Princeton's Institute for Advanced Studies and the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs convened a conference to recognize Michael Walzer's enormous contribution to the ethical and political philosophy of the 20th century. This issue features selected papers from the conference by Charles R. Beitz, Michael W. Doyle, and Will Kymlicka, with an introduction by Yitzhak Benbaji.

It also includes  a feature on political reconciliation by Daniel Philpott; a review essay entitled "In Pursuit of Peace," by Kent J. Kille; and book reviews.    

Symposium: Walzer and the Moral Standing of States

Introduction [Full Text] | 12/15/09
This symposium is comprised of three key articles from a 2008 conference to honor Michael Walzer. Each article discusses one of the most fundamental aspects of Walzer's philosophy: the moral significance of statehood. Author(s): Yitzhak Benbaji

The Moral Standing of States Revisited [Abstract] | 12/15/09
"The Moral Standing of States" is the title of an essay Michael Walzer wrote in response to four critics of the theory of nonintervention defended in "Just and Unjust Wars." It states a theme to which he has returned in subsequent work. Beitz offers four sets of comments. Author(s): Charles R. Beitz

A Few Words on Mill, Walzer, and Nonintervention [Abstract] | 12/15/09
Comparing Mill's "Non-Intervention" and Walzer's "Just and Unjust Wars" (1977) links two classic statements on just wars of intervention. Doyle concludes that interventionist arguments should go beyond the three paradigmatic cases Walzer explores in "Just and Unjust Wars." Author(s): Michael W. Doyle

Categorizing Groups, Categorizing States: Theorizing Minority Rights in a World of Deep Diversity [Abstract] | 12/15/09
Kymlicka believes that it is Walzer's idiosyncratic approach to categorization—more than his controversial theory of justice-as-common-meanings—which explains his relatively marginal role in the multiculturalism debate. Author(s): Will Kymlicka

Feature

An Ethic of Political Reconciliation [Abstract] | 12/15/09
The core proposition of this article is that reconciliation, both as a process and an end state, is a concept of justice. Its animating virtue is mercy and its goal is peace. These concepts are expressed most deeply in religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Author(s): Daniel Philpott

Review Essay

In Pursuit of Peace [Abstract] | 12/15/09
Traditional international relations scholarship has concentrated on war, but has not provided deep theoretical consideration of the concept of peace.While the focus of each of these three books differs, they share a common goal: to better place "peace" into the study of international affairs. Author(s): Kent J. Kille

Book Reviews

"War, Torture and Terrorism: Rethinking the Rules of International Security" Edited by Anthony F. Lang, Jr., and Amanda Russell Beattie [Full Text] | 12/15/09
This volume provides a fresh and engaging set of discussions, approaches, and case studies on how rules established to promote peaceful international order can instead result in conflict.

"The Religious in Responses to Mass Atrocity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives" Edited by Thomas Brudholm and Thomas Cushman [Full Text] | 12/15/09
What is the contribution of religious discourse to a productive and reconciliatory response to mass atrocities? In this wide-ranging book, scholars address the philosophical, ethical, sociological, and religious approaches to post-violence politics and societies.

"Messy Morality: The Challenge of Politics" by C. A. J. Coady [Full Text] | 12/15/09
The principal and worthwhile contribution of this book is to resituate the debate about moral realism where it belongs, in terms of its pragmatic employment and its ability to accommodate ideals and values.

"Ethics of Global Development: Agency, Capability, and Deliberative Democracy" by David A. Crocker [Full Text] | 12/15/09
This book is highly recommended to anyone who wants to know what development ethics has to offer, or who wants to engage with arguments on the role of the capability approach and ideas of deliberative democracy in development ethics.

"Universal Human Rights in a World of Difference" by Brooke A. Ackerly [Full Text] | 12/15/09
In a book full of thought-provoking questions for theorists of human rights, Ackerly presents an "account of the normative legitimacy of human rights" that is distinctive in several respects.

Briefly Noted

Briefly Noted [Full Text] | 12/15/09
This section contains a round-up of recent notable books in the field of international affairs.