Peace Lecture 2023: Trolleys and Drones

Trolley Problem ethics is not merely empty but pernicious: it founds a radically individualist, acontextual, and libertarian politics that has provided intellectual support for modern forms of remote warfare, with their attendant civilian casualties. Trolley Problem ethics made way for a strand of revisionist thinking about the ethics of war that normalizes and moralizes the killing of civilians.

Professor Christopher Kutz is C. William Maxeiner Distinguished Professor of Law at UC Berkeley.

The lecture will be chaired by Professor MM McCabe, FBA, Chair of the British Academy Philosophy Section and Professor of Ancient Philosophy Emerita, King’s College London.

A reception will follow at Bush House, 8th Floor (South), as well as the announcement of the winners of the Estella Newsome Memorial Prize essay competition (sponsored by the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament).

The Peace Lectures are due to Alan Lacey, a life-long pacifist who taught philosophy at King’s College London for some fifteen years, and who left a generous bequest to fund a lecture series promoting peace.

All are welcome! Registration required using the link to the top right of this page.

Photo by Kien Do on Unsplash