Philosopher | Professor | Advisor
 
 

“The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools.”

- Thucydides

 
 
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Print Media

Tool or Trouble: Aligning Artificial Intelligence with Human Rights,” Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative Social Impact Review, Commentary with Ambassador Jeff Bleich, April 25, 2022.

"Why Soldiers Might Disobey the President's Orders to Occupy US Cities," With Marcus Hedahl, The Conversation, June 11, 2020; Business Insider, June 12, 2020; Military.com, June 12, 2020; Defense One, June 12, 2020; Common Dreams, June 12, 2020; Tank and Purpose, June 13, 2020; Government Executive, June 14, 2020; National Interest, June 14, 2020; Channel News Asia, June 15, 2020; Milwaukee Independent, June 24, 2020

"Disgraceful Pardons: Dishonoring Our Honorable," War on the Rocks, Commentary with Pauline M. Shanks Kaurin, November 25, 2019

“Are Soldiers Morally Exploited?” Stockholm Centre.org, with Michael Robillard, July 15, 2016

"Eyes Over Syria:Using Drones To Monitor Atrocities," RUSI.org, Commentary with David Whetham, August 27, 2013

“More Heat Than Light: The Vexing Complexities of the Drone Debate,” Dialog Advisory Group, Symposium on Peace & Justice, February 25, 2013.

“Should Military Members Really Call Themselves ‘Professionals’?” CTX, Global Ecco, Vol. 2 Number 4, November 2012

“Coming to Terms With How Drones Are Used,” The New York Times, September 26, 2012

“The Morality of Drone Warfare Revisited,” The Guardian, August 6, 2012

“Zeroing In On Drones,” UConn Today, April 10, 2012





Awards

The Menneken Award for highly meritorious research, Naval Postgraduate School, November 2018

American Philosophical Association's Public Philosophy Op-Ed Contest winner, July 2017

Broadcast Media

“A Moral Irresponsibility of America,” PBS, The Open Mind, May 31, 2022.

“The Ethics of Warfare and Changing Technology,” wacmb.org, October 22, 2020

“Report Criticizes SEAL Recruits With 'Unhealthy Sense Of Entitlement',” The Morning Edition, NPR, February 12, 2020

“The President, The Navy Secretary, and a SEAL," WAMU 88.5 FM, "1A with Joshua Johnson", November 27, 2019

"Navy Secretary Ousted Over Handling of SEAL War Crimes Case," WBUR 90.9 FM, "On Point", November 25, 2019

"Navy Seals Report Superior for War Crimes," WBUR 90.9 FM, "On Point", April 25, 2019.

The Ethics of Drone Warfare,” KALW 91.7 FM Philosophy Talk, NPR, May 27, 2018

The New Ethics of War,” Big Ideas Exchange: New Directions for Defense, Naval Postgraduate School, December 2, 2016

“Driverless Cars are on the Way,” KNPR 88.9 FM, “State of Nevada,” January 15, 2014

“The Ethics of Drone Warfare,” WYPR 88.1 FM, “Midday with Dan Rodricks,” June 24, 2013

“The Ethics of Killing by Remote Control,” KPFK 90.1 FM, “Background Briefing with Ian Masters,” February 5, 2013

“Newshour Special: Drones,” BBC World Service, “Newshour,” October 5, 2012

“The Future of Cyberwar,” KUOW 94.9 FM, “The Conversation,” July 3, 2012

 
 

Writing

The Bounds of Defense: Killing, Moral Responsibility, and War (Oxford University Press, April 2023).

Outsourcing Duty: The Moral Exploitation of the American Soldierwith Michael Robillard (Oxford University Press, February 2022).

Who Should Die? The Ethics of Killing in War, with Ryan Jenkins and Michael Robillard (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Binary Bullets: The Ethics of Cyberwar, with Adam Henschke and Fritz Allhoff (Oxford University Press, 2016).

Killing bin Laden: A Moral Analysis (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Responsibilities to Protect: Perspectives in Theory and Practice, with David Whetham (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2015).

Military Ethics and Emerging Technologies, with Timothy J. Demy and George R. Lucas (Routledge, 2014).

Opposing Perspectives on the Drone Debate (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Killing By Remote Control: The Ethics of an Unmanned Military (Oxford University Press, May 2012).

The Supererogatory Moral Risks of Military Service," in The Individualization of War: Rights, Liability, and Accountability in Contemporary Armed Conflict, edited by Jennifer Welsh, Dapo Akande, and David Rodin, 89-114 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024).

"#StopHateForProfit and the Ethics of Boycotting by Corporations," with Theodore M. Lechterman and Ryan Jenkins, Journal of Business Ethics:1-15 (April, 2023).

“Review Essay of In Defense of Gun Control by Hugh LaFollette,” with Bart Kennedy, Criminal Law and Philosophy, April 2021.

The Moral Exploitation of Soldiers,” with Michael Robillard, Public Affairs Quarterly 30, no. 2 (April 2016): 171 – 196.

Autonomous Machines, Moral Judgment, and Acting for the Right Reasons,” with Duncan Purves and Ryan Jenkins, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 18, no. 4 (August 2015): 851-872.

Assessment, Proportionality, and Justice in War,” with Russell Muirhead, in Assessing War: The Challenge of Measuring Success and Failure, edited by Leo J. Blanken, Jason J. Lepore, and Hy Rothstein (Georgetown University Press, 2015).

Moral Cyber Weapons,” with Dorothy E. Denning, in The Ethics of Information Warfare, edited by Luciano Floridi and Mariarosaria Taddeo (Springer Philosophy & Engineering Technology Series, April 2014).

“Active Cyber Defense: Applying Air Defense to the Cyber Domain,” with Dorothy E. Denning, in Cyber Analogies, edited by John Arquilla and Emily O. Goldman, Technical Report sponsored by United States Cyber Command, (Monterey, CA: Department of Defense Information Operations Center for Research, Naval Postgraduate School, 2014).

Defensive Interrogational Torture and Epistemic Limitations Public Affairs Quarterly, Vol 27, no. 4 (October 2013): 311-340.

Revisionist Just War Theory and the Real World: A Cautiously Optimistic Proposal,” in Routledge Handbook of Ethics and War: Just War in the 21st Centuryedited by Fritz Allhoff, Adam Henschke, & Nick Evans, (Routledge Press, 2013).

Guest Editor: Journal of Military Ethics, Vol. 12, no. 1, 2013; Special Issue: Cyberwar and Ethics.”

Those Frightening Men: A New Interpretation of Plato’s Battle of Gods and Giants,” Epoche 16, no. 2 (Spring 2012): 217 – 232.

“Should Military Members Really Call Themselves ‘Professionals’?” CTX, Global Ecco, Vol. 2 Number 4, (November 2012).

Walking the Tightrope of Just War,” Analysis 71 (July 2011): 533-544.

Rea’s Revenge and the Persistent Problem of Persistence for Realism,” Philosophia 39, no. 2 (May 2011): 375-391.

The Normative Structure of Human Rights: a review of James Griffin’s On Human Rights,” (essay-length review article), Journal of Human Rights 10, no. 1, (February 2011): 112-119.

A Review of James Griffin’s On Human Rights,” (with Paul Bloomfield), Analysis 71, no. 1 (2011): 195 – 197.

Moral Predators: The Duty to Employ Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles,” Journal of Military Ethics 9, no. 4 (December 2010): 342-368.


Various Papers and Talks

The Ethics of Warfare and Changing Technology”, World Affairs Council of Monterey Bay, Special Guest Lecturer, October, 2020.

“The New Ethics of War”, NPS Big Ideas Exchange Event, Special Guest Lecturer, December 2016.

The Ethics of Cyber Sovereignty,” Cyber Endeavour 2016, US Naval Postgraduate School, June 22, 2016. “Individual Responsibility and Cyber-Norms: New Conceptual Terrain,” Information Institute Annual Security Ethics Conference, Las Vegas, March 2016.

“Targeted Killing and the International Order: Cooperation and Consent,” Workshop on the Diffusion and Effects of Targeted-Killing Practices, Diplomatic Academy, Vienna, October 23, 2015.

“Cyber Security and User responsibility: Surprising Normative Differences,” 6th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics, Cyber Security Track, Las Vegas, July 28, 2015.

“Cynicism and Overconfidence: Drones, Killing People, and Moral Tensions,” California State University, Fullerton, 45th Annual CSUF Philosophy Symposium: “Why We Argue & How We Should: Reason and Deliberation in Public Debate,” March 26, 2015.

“Risk and Killing: A Response to Frowe,” Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict Annual Conference, Merton College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, September 6, 2014.

The Ethics of Cyber Harms,” Cyber Endeavour 2014, US Naval Postgraduate School, June 25, 2014.

“The Cause for Which They Fight,” Annual Conference of the International Society of Military Ethics – Europe, Koblenz, Germany, May 2014.

 “The Moral Exploitation of Soldiers,” Inaugural Conference of the Stockholm Center for the Ethics of War and Peace, May 2014.

 “Internet In Bello: International Humanitarian Law and Cyber Operations,” International Committee of the Red Cross Public Panel on Cyberwarfare, Ethics, and IHL, Geneva, Switzerland, May 2014.

The Responsibility Dilemma: Response to Arneson,” American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Annual Conference, San Diego, CA April 2014.

Predator or Protector?” Presentation and Panel Debate, The Berkeley Forum, University of California, Berkeley, CA, November 2013.

The Value of Moral Judgment and Emerging Autonomous Technology,” 4th International Colloquium on the Philosophy of Technology, Universidad de Ciencias Empresariales y Sociale, Buenos Aires, Argentina, September, 2013.

Soul of a Robot: Why Moral Agency Matters,” Keynote Address, Military Robotics and the changing nature of armed conflict: Ethics, Law, and Design for the armies of the 21st Century, Bad Homburg, Germany, September 2013.

Consciousness and Agency: Response to Hess,” 6th Annual Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, August, 2013.

The Aims of War: Response to Bazargan,” American Philosophical Association Annual West Regional Meeting, San Francisco, CA, March, 2013.

War and Moral Wounds: Response to Sherman,” War Ethics Conference, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA, March, 2013.

Justice, Drones, and Killing in War,” International Studies Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, April, 2013.

Ethics, Foreign Policy, and the 2012 Presidential Election,” Roundtable participant at the International Studies Association (ISA) West Regional Annual Meeting, Pasadena, CA, October 2012.

The Independence Thesis for Jus Ex Bello and Intra-Bellum Proportionality Assessments,” at Oxford’s Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict Annual Conference, Merton College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, August 31st, 2012.

Defining Harm and the Principle of Distinction,” Annual McCain Conference, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, April 2012.

Response to Rodin,” Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict Annual Workshop on War, “Law and Ethics in War,” University of Oxford, Oxford, UK September 2011.

Terrorism and the Moral Equality of Combatants,” Center for Applied Philosophy, Politics, & Ethics (CAPPE), University of Brighton, Brighton, UK, August 2011.

Neutrality, Necessity, and Power Asymmetry,” International Society of Military Ethics Annual Symposium, San Diego, January 2011.

Self-Defense, Liability, and Threat of Harm,” UConn Philosophy Department Colloquium Series, December 2011.

Peer Mentor Teaching Programs and the Constructive Use of Videotaping,” (with Daniel Massey) American Association of Philosophy Teachers annual conference, Coastal Carolina University, August 2010.

UAVs and Unnecessary Risk,” 7th Global Conference on War and Peace, Prague, Czech Republic, April 2010.

UAVs as Ethically Obligatory,” International Society of Military Ethics Annual Symposium, San Diego, January 2010.

The Institutional Duties of Human Rights,” 8thInternational Conference of the International Development Ethics Association, Valencia, Spain, December 2009.

A Puzzle Over Autonomous Consent,” UConn Philosophy Graduate Student Colloquium, Storrs, CT, October 2009.

The Paradox of Rule-Breaking in Sport,” 37thAnnual Meeting of the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport, Seattle, WA, August 2009.

Can Love Be Alien? Frankfurtian Volitional Necessity and the Impact of Choices on Identity,” Futures of Critical Theory, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, March 2009.

Whose Duties? The Correlative Duties of Human Rights,” UConn Graduate Human Rights Conference, Storrs, CT, April 2009.

A Problem for Van Inwagen on the Metaphysics of Free Will,” U.S. Air Force Academy Philosophy Department Faculty Colloquium Series, December 2007.


 
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