CV
Seth Lazar
School of Philosophy
Australian National University
Areas of Specialisation
Practical ethics, Normative ethics, Political philosophy.
Areas of Competence
Metaethics, Bioethics, History of political/moral philosophy (esp. Kant, Hegel, Marx, Mill, just war theory, methodology), Political theories (e.g. liberalism, socialism etc.).
Education
06-09 D.Phil. Politics (Political Theory), Department of Politics, Oxford.
Thesis titled ‘War & Associative Duties’. Supervised by Henry Shue, examined by Jeff McMahan & David Rodin. Passed with minor corrections May 2009.
04-06 M.Phil. Politics (Political Theory), Department of Politics, Oxford
Passed with distinction—highest average M.Phil. mark in Politics department. Thesis titled ‘A Critical Analysis of Corrective Justice’. Supervised by David Miller. Mark 74%; 70 is distinction. Taught courses included Contemporary Political Philosophy (73%), Hegel and Marx (74%), Political Theory (68%), International Normative Theory (74%), Ethics (84%), Formal Theory (i.e. metaethics; 72%), Philosophy of Social Science (75%).
02-03 Frank Knox Fellow, Harvard University, Cambridge MA
Special student. Research on Marxism, Development Studies, & Postcolonial theory.
99-02 BA (Hons) English Language & Literature, Wadham College, Oxford
First class honours. Fourth out of 263 candidates.
Book Under Contract
2012 Justifying War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, under contract
Monograph developing a non-reductionist framework for the justification of war.
Publications
2012 ‘War’, International Encyclopaedia of Ethics, Hugh Lafollette (ed.), Wiley-Blackwell
Contributed 6000-word peer-reviewed essay on War for new 9 volume International Encyclopaedia of Ethics. Due out late 2012.
2012 ‘Scepticism about Jus Post Bellum’, Morality, Jus Post Bellum, and International Law” Larry May and Andrew Forcehimes (eds.), Cambridge University Press
Critique of applying just war criteria to practices better governed by forward-looking principles. Due out June 2012.
2012 ‘The Morality and Law of War’, Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Law, Andrei Marmor (ed.)
Invited peer-reviewed essay on war for volume also including papers from John Finnis, R. A. Duff, Jeremy Waldron, Stephen Perry & John Tasioulas, among others. Due out March 2012.
2012 ‘Just War Theory’, Oxford Companion to Comparative Politics, Joel Krieger (ed.), Oxford University Press
3500-word entry, used in both Comparative Politics and International Relations Companions.
2010 ‘A Liberal Defence of (Some) Duties to Compatriots’, J. of Applied Phil., 27:3, 246-57
Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-5930.2010.00496.x/abstract
2010 ‘The Responsibility Dilemma for Killing in War’, Philosophy & Public Affairs, 38:2, 180-213
Available at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123372146/abstract
2009 ‘Responsibility, Risk, & Killing in Self-Defense’, Ethics, 119:4, 699-728
Available at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/605727
2009 ‘Do Associative Duties Really Not Matter?’, Journal of Political Philosophy, 17:1, 90-101
Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2008.00329.x
2009 ‘The Nature & Disvalue of Injury’, Res Publica, 15:3, 289-304
Winner of the Res Publica Postgraduate Essay prize for 2008. Available at: http://www.springerlink.com/content/j31112260k2g1217
2008 ‘Corrective Justice & the Possibility of Rectification’, Ethical Theory & Moral Practice, 11:4, 355–68
Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10677-008-9108-8
Prizes
2011 Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Alberta
Declined in order to take up position at ANU.
2011 American Philosophical Association Frank Chapman Sharp memorial prize for the best unpublished monograph on the philosophy of war & peace
Biennial prize ($1500) awarded for monograph derived from unpublished chapters of thesis.
2009 Res Publica Postgraduate Essay Prize for 2008
Prize (£100) awarded for my paper ‘The Nature & Disvalue of Injury’.
2008 Society for Applied Philosophy Annual Conference Postgraduate Essay Prize
Prize (fees & expenses) awarded for paper ‘Risk & Responsibility’, judged best postgraduate essay.
2007 Social Science Division Teaching Excellence Award (Category A)
£1500 award funded by Higher Education Funding Council for England, for outstanding teaching. Only 5 awards in the department of politics, only one to graduate student.
02-03 Harvard University, Frank Knox Fellowship
Scholarship totalling approx. $50,000 for year of study at Harvard.
00-02 Wadham College, Schools Prize & Junior Scholarship
Prize for Wadham’s highest ever mark in English final essay (84%). Scholarship for 1st in prelims.
Employment & Fellowships
2011 Research Fellow (continuing). School of Philosophy, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
Started September 2011, permanent full-time research fellowship (equivalent to tenure).
2011 Visiting fellow at programme on Sovereignty, Global Justice, & the Ethics of War, Institute of Advanced Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Invited to join research programme organised by Yitzhak Benbaji & Eyal Benvenisti, also attended by Michael Walzer, David Luban, David Rodin & other leading figures in the debate.
09-11 Research Associate, Institute for Ethics, Law, & Armed Conflict, Oxford & Non-Stipendiary Research Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford.
Full-time research job at grade 7 on university salary scale (£28,983 plus pension).
07-09 Retained Lecturer in Political Theory, Pembroke College, Oxford
Stipendiary role teaching political theory, ethics, & related courses.
Conferences Convened
2011 ‘War & Global Justice’, Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Deploying insights developed by political theorists working on global justice to problems in just war theory. Participants: Michael Walzer, Anna Stilz, Miriam Ronzoni, Laura Valentini, Helen Frowe, Massimo Renzo, Yitzhak Benbaji.
2010 ‘Why We Fight: The Purposes of Military Force in the Twenty-First Century’, second meeting of the Oxford War Group, Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict, Oxford
Participants: myself, Chris Kutz, Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Patrick Emerton, Jeff McMahan, Gerhard Øverland, Cécile Fabre & Yitzhak Benbaji. Respondents: postgraduates & Cheyney Ryan, Nancy Sherman, Victor Tadros, Laura Valentini & James Pattison.
2010 ‘Eliminative & Manipulative Agency in the Ethics of Self-Defence’, ELAC, Oxford
Participants: myself, Victor Tadros, Helen Frowe, & Gerald Lang. Respondents: postgraduate students & David Rodin & Jon Quong.
2009 ‘Killing in War workshop’, first meeting of the Oxford War Group, ELAC, Oxford
Focus on McMahan’s 2009 book. Participants: McMahan, David Rodin, John Gardner, Yitzhak Benbaji, Cheyney Ryan, Larry May, Tony Coady, Cécile Fabre, Henry Shue. Proceedings under review at Ethics. So far two acceptances, two revise & resubmits.
Invited Presentations
2011 Thursday Philosophy Seminar, School of Philosophy ANU
Title: ‘Necessity in Self-Defence and War’.
2011 Social and Political Theory Workshop, ANU
Title: ‘Necessity and Noncombatant Immunity’.
2011 ‘Ethics and Law in War’, third annual meeting of the ELAC workshop, Oxford
Title: ‘The Morality and Law of War’.
2011 Program on Sovereignty, Global Justice and the Ethics of War, IAS, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Respondent to Michael Walzer’s paper on ‘What’s Just War Theory About?’.
2011 Seminar Series, ELAC, Oxford
Title: ‘The Morality and Law of War’.
2011 International Intelligence Ethics Association, Oxford Intelligence Group Meeting, Nuffield College Oxford.
Respondent to Tony Coady (Melbourne) on ‘Intelligent Ethics and the Ethics of Intelligence’.
2011 Criminalisation Conference, University of Warwick.
Respondent to Tony Coady (Melbourne) on ‘Terrorism and Law’.
2011 Colloquia at Dartmouth College, University of Melbourne, Washington University St Louis, University of Chicago, University of Toronto, and Stanford University
Title: ‘Associative Duties and the Ethics of Killing in War’.
2010 ‘Why We Fight: The Purposes of Military Force’, second annual meeting of the Oxford War Group, Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict, Oxford
Title: ‘On the Moral Importance of Winning’. Respondent: Guy Sela.
2010 Centre for Applied Philosophy & Public Ethics Seminar, Australia National University
Title: ‘On the Moral Importance of Winning’.
2010 Workshop on Ethics, Jus Post Bellum, & International Law, CAPPE, ANU
Title: ‘Endings & Aftermath in the Ethics of War’.
2010 Social & Political Theory Workshop, RSSS, Australia National University
Title: ‘Necessity, Vulnerability, & Noncombatant Immunity’.
2010 ‘Asymmetric Wars, International Relations, & Just War Theory’, Belgrade U., Serbia
Title: ‘Noncombatant Immunity & Asymmetric Warfare’.
2010 Workshop on ‘Eliminative & Manipulative Agency in the Ethics of Self-Defence’, Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict, University of Oxford.
Title: ‘Scepticism about the Eliminative/ Manipulative Agency Distinction’. Respondent: Jo Firth.
2010 Centre for Ethics, Law & Public Affairs Seminar Series, University of Warwick
Title: ‘Scepticism about the Eliminative/ Manipulative Agency Distinction’.
2010 Seminar Series, Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict, Oxford
Title: ‘Associative Duties & the Ethics of War’.
2009 Proportionality & Noncombatant Immunity, ELAC, Oxford
Roundtable discussion with Jeff McMahan & Helen Frowe.
2008 Oxford & Princeton Global Norms/Global Justice Research Collaboration, Oxford
Title: ‘Responsibility & Killing in War’.
2008 Future of Humanity Advanced Research Series, James Martin 21st Century School, Oxford
Title: ‘War & Associative Duties’.
2008 Nuffield Political Theory Workshop, Nuffield College, Oxford
Title: ‘On The Justification of Associative Duties’.
2007 Political Theory Colloquium, School for Politics & International Relations, Keele U.
Title: ‘The Right to Kill? A Critique of Jeff McMahan’s Theory of Liability to Defensive Killing’.
Other Conference Presentations
2008 American Philosophical Association Eastern Division, Philadelphia
Title: ‘Self-Defence & Risk: A Reply to McMahan’. Respondent: Rahul Kumar.
2008 ‘The Basis & Value of Equality’, Workshops in Political Theory, Manchester Met. U.
Title: ‘On the Clash Between Loyalty and Equality’.
2008 Society for Applied Philosophy Conference, University of Manchester
Title: ‘Risk & Responsibility: A Critique of Jeff McMahan’s Theory of Liability to Defensive Killing’. Respondent: Jeff McMahan. Awarded prize for best postgraduate essay.
2008 ‘Global Justice’, Assn of Legal & Social Philosophy Annual Meeting, U. of Nottingham
Title: ‘The Right to Kill? A Critique of Jeff McMahan’s Theory of Just Killing in War’.
2007 Harvard Graduate Conference in Political Theory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Title: ‘A Liberal Defence of Duties to Compatriots’.
2007 ‘Beyond the Nation’, School of Politics, Int’l Studies & Philosophy, Queen’s U., Belfast
Title: ‘Duties to Compatriots & Scheffler’s Distributive Objection’.
2007 ‘Global Social Justice in Theory & Practice’, Global Studies Association, U. of Birmingham
Title: ‘On the Voluntarist Objection to Duties to Compatriots’.
2007 ‘Terrorism, Globalisation & Democracy’, IPSA Political Philosophy Meeting, London
Title: ‘Nationalism, Terrorism, & Supreme Emergency’.
2007 ‘Aliens & Nations’, Assn of Legal & Social Philosophy Annual Meeting, Keele University
Title: ‘Special Relationships, Particular Duties, & the Distributive Objection’.
Research & Conference Funding
2010 John Fell OUP Research Fund Award, Department of Politics, Society for Applied Philosophy, Mind Association Major Conference Grant, Nuffield College Politics Group.
Total of £8,000 to cover costs of Oxford War Group 2010.
2008 American Philosophical Association Graduate Travel Award
Prize ($300) awarded to assist with expenses of attending APA Eastern Division meeting.
2008 British International Studies Association Founders’ Fund Award
Prize (£400) awarded to assist with the completion of my thesis.
2008 Oxford University Vice-Chancellors’ Fund Award
£1650 awarded on the basis of research of an ‘exceptionally high standard’.
07-08 Department of Politics, Cyril Foster, Winchester & Norman Chester Funds
Scholarships totalling £950 for conference attendance (ALSP 2007, IPSA, Birmingham, Belfast, SAP 2008, Manchester Workshops 2008).
07-08 St Peter’s College, Tutor for Graduates Fund
£700 towards conferences (ALSP 2007, 2008, Harvard, SAP 2008, SAP 2008, APA 2008).
2007 St Peter’s College, Cairncross Academic Award
Scholarship of £400 towards conference expenses (IPSA, Birmingham, Belfast).
05-08 Arts & Humanities Research Council, Doctoral Fellowship
Awarded three years of funding for tuition & maintenance.
04-06 St Peter’s College & Department of Politics, Graduate Studentship
Tuition & maintenance for 04-05, £250 book price when superseded by AHRC award in 2005.
Teaching
11-12 PhD Supervision, School of Philosophy, ANU.
Panel chair for one PhD candidate, on panel for two others.
11-12 MA Supervision in applied ethics, School of Philosophy, ANU.
Supervising 1 CAPPE student working on the ethics of covert investigation.
2010 M.Phil. supervision, Department of Politics & International Relations, Oxford.
Supervised M.Phil. thesis on jus post bellum.
07-09 Pembroke College, Oxford
Designed syllabus & taught tutorials (1:1 or 1:2), for courses on Kant’s Ethics, War & Global Justice, Marx & Marxism, & Final Honour Schools (FHS) Theory of Politics & Ethics. Also taught revision seminars (larger classes).
06-09 Regent’s Park, St. Hugh’s, St. Peter’s, St. Hilda’s, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford
Designed syllabus & taught tutorials for War & Global Justice, FHS Theory of Politics, Ethics.
06-09 Oxford Overseas Study Course, Taylor University Programme, Oxford
Designed & taught Ethics, Marx, Bioethics, War/Global Justice courses to visiting US students.
98-99 Falcon College, Esigodini, Zimbabwe.
Taught English literature, English language, History, & French. Coached rugby & cricket teams.
Professional Activities
2010 Contributed to Advisory Consultation, US Army Professional Military Ethics code.
Majors Bob Underwood & Chris Case (West Point) are writing a new code of ethics for the US Army. I contributed to a seminar on their white paper, & have been invited to play a continuing role.
08- Referee, Ethics, Law and Philosophy, Social Theory and Practice, British Journal of Political Science, Political Studies. Refereeing & commentary, Oxford University Press, Routledge.
Journal referee. Referee for new book proposals. Reader for McMahan’s Killing in War manuscript.
Photography, Travel, Languages
06- Professional Photography
Published & prize-winning photos. See www.sethlazar.com & www.oxford-panoramas.co.uk.
94- Travel
So far 55 sovereign states. Crossed Africa overland by public transport, Morocco to South Africa, visiting a town beginning with every letter of the alphabet, in order. See www.alphabettravel.com.
Languages
French: fluent speaking/writing; Russian, Spanish: recoverable speaking; Hindi: basic speaking.
Referees
Core:
Professor Henry Shue, Senior Research Fellow Emeritus (active), Merton College, Oxford.
Professor Jeff McMahan, Philosophy Department, Rutgers, State University of New Jersey
Professor David Miller, Professor of Political Theory, Nuffield College, Oxford
Dr. David Rodin, Co-Director, Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict, Oxford
For teaching reference: Professor Stephen Whitefield, Pembroke College, Oxford
Additional:
Professor Yitzhak Benbaji, Bar-Ilan University; Professor Simon Caney, Magdalen Collee, Oxford; Professor Tony Coady, University of Melbourne; Dr. Cécile Fabre, Lincoln College, Oxford; Professor Christopher Kutz, Berkeley; Professor Judith Lichtenberg, Georgetown; Professor Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Aarhus; Professor David Luban, Georgetown; Professor Larry May, Vanderbilt & Charles Sturt.