McMahan, a professor of philosophy at Rutgers University and visiting research collaborator at Princeton University's Center for Human Values, will be giving a talk on preventive war, which is started in response to a perceived threat that is not imminent and which is illegal under international war. McMahan will explore the current administration's doctrine allowing preventive war, the moral objections that surround it, and whether or not these objections can be overcome in principle or practice.
McMahan studied at Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and at Cambridge University, where he was a St. John's College fellow. He is the author of The Ethics of Killing: Problems at the Margins of Life (2002, Oxford University Press), and is currently working on its sequel.
The "Law and the 'War on Terror'" is one of 10 projects funded by the Humanities Project, a year-long initiative at the University of Rochester emphasizing the influence and contributions of the humanities to academic and civic life.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact (585) 275-4251 or visit the website at www.rochester.edu/college/humanities/ or email humanities@rochester.edu.