The Winona State University CLASP Lecture Series will host “Toward a Sustainable Peace: Contingent Pacifism and Justice After War” with David Speetzen at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, in Stark Hall 103.
Speetzen will address the traditional pacifist claim that violence and war are never justified under any condition and how this belief runs counter to strongly held intuitions about the right to use force to defend the innocent and ourselves. Critics have called this absolute prohibition against violence naive, ineffective and self-defeating. In his talk, Speetzen will discuss the plausibility of contingent pacifism as an alternative to the traditional ways of thinking about armed conflict, laying special emphasis on the difficult imperative of securing a just and lasting peace in the aftermath of modern war.
Speetzen is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at WSU, and the Director of the War, Peace & Terrorism program. He teaches courses in Applied Ethics, The Philosophy of Law and The Morality of War. His research focuses on a range of ethical questions surrounding the initiation, conduct and termination of armed political conflict.
For more information, contact Matthew Bosworth at MBosworth@winona.edu.
