Michael Walzer, UPS Foundation Professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, will present the lecture "Terrorism and Just War" 6 p.m. Friday, May 4, at Wolfensohn Hall on the campus of the institute.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
Professor Walzer will be retiring on July 1 after 27 years at the institute.
In his lecture, Professor Walzer will attempt to answer these questions: First, what is wrong with terrorism? The question may seem easy, but it is often answered badly. Second, how is terrorism chosen picked out of all the possible political strategies? And third, how ought we to fight against terrorism? Or better, what are the moral limits that anti-terrorists ought to recognize?
Considered one of America’s foremost political thinkers, Professor Walzer addresses a wide variety of topics in political theory and moral philosophy in his writings, including political obligation, just and unjust war, nationalism and ethnicity, economic justice and the welfare state. He has helped in the revival of a practical, issue-focused ethics and in the development of a pluralist approach to political and moral life.
On July 1 Dr. Walzer will become professor emeritus in the institute’s School of Social Science, after serving 27 years on the faculty.
His books include "Arguing About War" (2004), "On Toleration" (1999), and "Just and Unjust Wars" (1977).
Professor Walzer has served as co-editor of the political journal, Dissent, since 1975. Currently, he is working on the toleration and accommodation of "difference" in all its forms and also on a major collaborative project focused on the history of Jewish political thought.
For further information about the lecture, call (609) 734-8175.

