Hartman Institute Scholars in Conference Examining Michael Walzer’s Work
Institute features prominently as co-organizer and co-sponsor of conference recognizing Walzer at Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton beginning June 2
Michael Walzer, Professor Emeritus at the School of Social Science at Institute for Advanced Study, is recognized as one of the world’s leading scholars in ethics and political theory and moral philosophy.
His 1978 book Just and Unjust Wars is considered the authoritative text on the morality of war. He is a well known figure at the Shalom Hartman Institute: he co-authored " The Jewish Political Tradition ," participated in the annual philosophy conference and even spent time at the Institute as a Fellow.
It is only natural then that the Institute features prominently as co-organizer and co-sponsor of the "Justice, Culture and Tradition Conference" recognizing Walzer’s contributions, scheduled for June 2-4, 2008, at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.
The conference was organized by Yitzhak Benbaji , a Senior Fellow at the Institute, Amy Guttman of University of Pennsylvania and Avishai Margalit of IAS, associate editor of Volume 2 of The Jewish Political Tradition – Membership. The conference will examine the following questions:
How should liberalism treat cultures, cultural diversity and cultural identities?
How should the just society distribute resources and the goods social life produces?
When is waging war justified?
What is the meaning of national self-defense and how is it related to self-defense in the domestic realm?
Is an international system constituted from fully sovereign states justified, or should the international society be federalized?
Top international researchers in this field of political theory will participate in the conference, with Hartman Institute fellows featuring prominently among them. Benbaji, Moshe Halbertal (chairman), Menachem Lorberbaum , Haim Shapira (chairman) and Noam J. Zohar will all present papers at this conference. Walzer, their mentor and colleague, will attend and comment on the papers presented.
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