In the aftermath of Libya, and in the face of Syria, moral and institutional questions abound in face of the challenge posed by suffering and injustice in war-torn and repressive states. Professor Thomas Pogge, one of the world's leading political philosophers, will challenge what has and has not been done - and how we can fashion a philosophically consistent and at the same time realistic response to the tragedies that humanitarian interventions are meant to address. Thomas Pogge is the Director of the Global Justice Program and the Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs at Yale University. Having received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard, Thomas Pogge has published widely on Kant and in moral and political philosophy, including various books on Rawls and global justice. In addition to his Yale appointment, he is the Research Director of the Centre for the Study of the Mind in Nature at the University of Oslo and a Professorial Research Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics.

The lecture is based on the article "Moralizing Humanitarian Intervention: Why Jurying Fails and How Law Can Work”, published in Terry Nardin and Melissa Williams, eds.: Humanitarian Intervention, NOMOS volume 47 (New York: New York University Press 2005), 158–187.

Chair: Henrik Syse, PRIO

Please register by Friday 24 August.

The seminar is organized in collaboration between the Research School in Peace and Conflictand the PRIO research groups Law and Ethicsand Humanitarianism.