We’re hiring! See here for more information about our vacancy for a PhD student in Practical Philosophy. The deadline is March 5th.

The Department of Philosophy at Stockholm University is the largest in Sweden, boasting a lively community of philosophers with a broad range of scholarly interests. The department has a strong international profile: we frequently attract visitors from around the world, regularly invite internationally renowned philosophers to our colloquium, and are involved in several international research networks. We have been repeatedly selected as one of the leading research areas in the humanities at Stockholm University. The department’s strengths within practical philosophy is further augmented by the addition of the Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace. Several of our faculty members are associated with the Institute for Futures Studies, which hosts research projects of philosophical relevance, or with the Stockholm Centre for Healthcare Ethics and the Stockholm Center on Global Governance. The department also cooperates with practical philosophy at Uppsala University and the University of Gothenburg through the Norms and Normativity graduate school, which is supported by the Swedish Research Council.

The doctoral researcher will be attached to the Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace (SCEWP) which is funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and part of the Philosophy Department at Stockholm University. SCEWP is directed by Professor Helen Frowe, who will serve as primary supervisor for the successful applicant. SCEWP aims to produce cutting-edge philosophical research in the ethics of war and peace, foster international collaboration with scholars, policy-makers and military practitioners, and improve public and policy debates concerning the ethics of war and peace.

Please note that there is no requirement to speak Swedish to hold this post. The doctoral researcher will be expected to undertake research in English.

More information about us, please visit: the Department of Philosophy.

SCEWP undertakes research on a broad range of topics in moral, legal, and political philosophy. The thesis work will be conducted within this framework. Our previous research has covered humanitarian intervention, compensatory duties after war, the protection of heritage in war, self-defence, moral responsibility, democratic theory and citizens’ responsibilities, rights, risk, accountability for war crimes, refugees and immigration, duties to rescue, legitimate authority, consent, partiality, and commemoration. We currently have particular research interests in the ethics of deterrence in both international and domestic contexts and especially welcome applicants wanting to work in this area. We aim to reflect the fact that the best work in moral, legal and political philosophy is informed by research across philosophy. We thus welcome applications from researchers from a range of philosophical backgrounds (for example, those working on causation, moral responsibility, rights, collective action, philosophy of action, authority) who are interested in bearing this expertise to bear on the ethics of war and peace.

CFP: 6th Annual Graduate and Early Career (Virtual) Reading Retreat

6th Annual Graduate and Early Career (Virtual) Reading Retreat
Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace
11-12 May, 2021
Location: Zoom

Deadline for submissions: 15 February, 2021

The Stockholm Centre is pleased to announce its 6th Annual Reading Retreat. We invite submissions from current and recent graduate students (within two years of receiving their PhD). Papers should address philosophical issues relating to the ethics of war and peace, broadly construed. This includes, for example, papers on causation, responsibility, authority, partiality, scarcity of resources, collective action, punishment, and self-defence. At this time, the Stockholm Centre has a particular interest in papers on migration, refugees, and rights.

Each successful applicant will be allocated a faculty respondent, who will provide written comments on the paper and serve as a commentator at the retreat. In order to find the most suitable respondents, faculty will be invited after papers have been selected. Past respondents have included Helen Beebee, Yitzak Benbaji, Garret Cullity, Christopher Finlay, Helen Frowe, Adil Haque, Holly Lawford-Smith, Seth Lazar, Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Kieran Oberman, Massimo Renzo, David Rodin, and Laura Valentini.

Papers should be no longer than 8000 words, including notes, and prepared for blind review. Papers should not be under review prior to the retreat. Submissions from graduate students should include a letter from their department confirming their year of study. Submissions from early career researchers should include confirmation that they are within two years of receiving their PhD (e.g. letter from examiner or supervisor, or a copy of their PhD certificate). Submissions and enquiries should be sent to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>.

Published 2nd December 2020

Bülow’s new paper, ‘Risking Civilian Lives to Avoid Harm to Cultural Heritage?’, published in JSEP

SCEWP post-doc, William Bülow, has a new paper out on whether it is morally permissible to impose non-negligible risks of serious harm  on innocent civilians in order not to endanger tangible cultural heritage during armed conflict.

As with all papers at the Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, it is open access. Check it out here: http://jesp.org/index.php/jesp/article/view/1076

Published 28th September 2020

SCEWP hires new post-doc, Joseph Bowen!

We are delighted to announce that Joseph Bowen has joined us as Postdoctoral Researcher. Joe has recently finished his PhD at the University of St Andrews and University of Stirling. He specialises in moral and political philosophy, focusing on the nature of rights, directed duties, and permissible harming. Find out more about Joe here.

Published 4th August 2020

Research

Symposium on Causation in War

‘Symposium on Causation in War‘, a result of SCEWP and Kings College London’s ‘Conversations on War’ project, is out now in the Journal of Applied Philosophy! Check out articles by Carolina Sartorio, Helen Beebee & Alex Kaiserman, and Lars Christie, with an introduction from Helen Frowe & Massimo Renzo.

The Conversations on War project ‘explores how philosophers working on the ethics of war can draw on researchin other areas of philosophy to improve our accounts of harming in war and how research on the ethics of war might challenge or illuminate work in those other areas.The first instance of this project brought together a broad group of philosophers: Helen Frowe, Massimo Renzo, Victor Tadros, Yitzhak Benbaji, Helen Beebee, David Owens, Carolina Sartorio, Lars Christie, James Goodrich, Seth Lazar, Adam Slavny, Hagit Benbaji, François Tanguay-Renaud, Lisa Hecht, Alexander Kaiserman, and Gustaf Arrhenius.’

Published 4th August 2020

SCEWP director Helen Frowe awarded 8.75M SEK Wallenberg Academy Fellowship extension

Helen Frowe has been awarded a five-year prolongation of her Wallenberg Academy Fellowship from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. Over the next five years, she will develop an account of the ethics of foreign intervention. The project will explore the relationship between agent-relative prerogatives and duties to save, the permissibility of wars of intervention, and the ethics of indirect intervention, such as arming and training members of rebel groups. Information about events and vacancies will appear on the Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace website.

Published 4th December 2017