Robert L. Holmes, the McCullough Distinguished Visiting Professor of Political Philosophy at Hamilton, will give a lecture titled “The Gulf Wars, Western Imperialism, and the Just War Theory” in the Hamilton Science Center, room G041, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 4:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Arguing that the Iraq War and the Gulf War can be considered two phases of one war, Holmes’s talk will place them in a historical context that reveals them as a perpetuation of western imperialism, with a rationale provided by the just war theory. His lecture will also challenge expressions of imperialism and the prevailing paradigm of just war theory in an effort to encourage people to rethink the morality of war as it currently rages on in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Holmes is an emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Rochester whose books include seminal works such as On War and Morality and Basic Moral Philosophy. In addition to his current appointment, Holmes has also served as a fellow at the National Humanities Institute, Yale University; a senior Fulbright lecturer at Moscow State University; and as the Rajiv Gandhi Professor of Peace and Disarmament at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India.
Arguing that the Iraq War and the Gulf War can be considered two phases of one war, Holmes’s talk will place them in a historical context that reveals them as a perpetuation of western imperialism, with a rationale provided by the just war theory. His lecture will also challenge expressions of imperialism and the prevailing paradigm of just war theory in an effort to encourage people to rethink the morality of war as it currently rages on in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Holmes is an emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Rochester whose books include seminal works such as On War and Morality and Basic Moral Philosophy. In addition to his current appointment, Holmes has also served as a fellow at the National Humanities Institute, Yale University; a senior Fulbright lecturer at Moscow State University; and as the Rajiv Gandhi Professor of Peace and Disarmament at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India.
