CPP @ APA Central 2025
February 20 – March 1, 2025 | Virtual
Ryan Born, he/him/his/they (University of Texas at Austin)
“The War Crimes of the Sovereign”
Kamper Floyd (Wake Tech Community College)
“Is Violence Ever Okay? Changing Student Attitudes through Philosophical Conversation”
Court Lewis, he/him (Pellissippi State Community College)
“Living In Truth, When Truth Doesn’t Matter”
CPP @ APA Eastern 2025
January 8 – 11, 2025 | New York, New York
Author meets critics: Pacifism as War Abolitionism
Author: Cheyney Ryan (University of Oregon and University of Oxford)
Speakers: Thomas Carnes (Duke University)
Lee-Ann Chae (Temple University)
Graham Parsons (United States Military Academy, West Point)
CPP @ APA Pacific 2024
Wednesday, April 5, 8-10PM
Concerned Philosophers for Peace, Session 1
Topic: Book Symposium: Andrew Fiala and Jennifer Kling, Can War Be Justified?: A Debate
Authors: Andrew Fiala (California State University, Fresno)
Jennifer Kling (University of Colorado Colorado Springs)
Critics: David K. Chan (The University of Alabama at Birmingham)
Yvonne Chiu (U.S. Naval War College)
R. Paul Churchill (George Washington University)
José-Antonio Orosco (Oregon State University)
Saturday, April 8, 6-8 PM
Concerned Philosophers for Peace, Session 2
Topic: Nonviolent Resistance in the Muslim World
Moderator: Andrew Fiala (California State University, Fresno)
Panelists: Walaa Quisay (University of Edinburgh)
Tom Woerner-Powell (University of Manchester)
CPP @ APA Central 2023
Concerned Philosophers for Peace Group Sessions
Co-sponsored by The Gandhi, King, Chavez, Addams Society
SESSION 1
Thursday, February 23
7:00pm – 10:00pm
G4J. Concerned Philosophers for Peace
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Moral Thought on Peace and Nonviolence
Co-sponsored by The Gandhi, King, Chavez, Addams Society
Speakers:
Gregory Bock (The University of Texas at Tyler) and Court Lewis (Pellissippi State Community College)
“Illuminating Bonhoeffer’s Conception of Forgiveness”
William Barnes (New Mexico Highlands University)
“Simone De Beauvoir: The Virtue of Un-Knowing”
Talhah Mustafa (University of Nebraska Lincoln)
“Racial Powers”
Joel Ballivian (UW-Madison)
“Reparations for Historic Racism: What Does Benefitting Have to Do With It?”
Solomon A Laleye (Adekunle Ajasin University)
“Advanced Cyber-Crime, Ritual Killings and Their Mutual Exclusiveness”
John Park (California State University, Sacramento)
“Why Regulations on Empirical Claims in the Media Are Justified”
SESSION 2
Friday, February 24
7:00pm – 10:00pm
G5D. Concerned Philosophers for Peace
Visions of Peace and Nonviolence in Popular Culture
Co-sponsored by The Gandhi, King, Chavez, Addams Society
Speakers:
Kate C.S. Schmidt (Metropolitan State University of Denver)
“Batman Never Kills: Envisioning the Moral Costs of Violence in Popular Culture”
Katie Harster (Boston College)
““For Light and Life”: Peace in Thoreau and the Jedi of Star Wars: The High Republic”
Colin J. Lewis (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs)
“Hegemons, Peace-seeking, and The Godfather”
Jennifer Kling (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs)
“Nonviolent Activism in Lord of the Rings”
The meeting will be held February 22-25, 2023 at the Hilton Denver City Central in Denver, CO.
CPP @ APA Eastern 2022
Concerned Philosophers for Peace
Virtual Group Session
Thursday, January 13, 2022
11:00 am – 12: 50 pm EST
Chair:
Fuat Gursozlu (Loyola University Maryland)
Speakers:
Jean-Marie Makang (Frostburg State University) “Authoritarianism and Sectarianism and the Democratic Experiment”
Will Barnes (University of New Mexico)
“Left Cynicism, Cheekiness, and Satire”
James Walker (DePaul University)
“Towards a Radical Engagement with Global Health Inequity as a Necessary Component of Positive Peace Building”
CPP@ APA Central 2022
Remembering Bat-Ami Bar On
Celebrating the Work of Bat-Ami Bar On
G2M. Concerned Philosophers for Peace 1
Co-sponsored by The Gandhi, King, Chavez, Addams Society
Chair: Court Lewis (Pellissippi State Community College)
Speakers:
Jennifer Kling (University of Colorado, Colorado Springs)
“Resettling Refugees: State Obligations, Egalitarian Concerns”
Court Lewis (Pellissippi State Community College)
“Nonviolence When Everyone is a Citizen-Soldier”
Wim Laven (Instructor of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Governing Council of International Peace Research Association)
“Daring To Be Good: The Moral Demands of Bat-Ami Bar On”
Thursday evening, 7:15pm – 10:15pm
Racism, Pacifism, and Avoiding Atrocities and War
G3Q. Concerned Philosophers for Peace
Chair: Court Lewis (Pellissippi State Community College)
Speakers:
Rashad Rehman and Lydia Clarke Rehman (The University of Toronto)
“The Moral Responsibility of Whom? Re-thinking Water Inequality in Canadian Indigenous Communities”
Joel Ballivian (UW-Madison)
“Racial Apathy and the Persistence of Injustice”
Carlo Filice (SUNY Geneseo)
“How Absolute is the Pacifism of Jesus?”
Leonard Kahn (Loyola University New Orleans and the United States Naval Academy)
“Just Cause and Risk Transfer”
Will Barnes (University of New Mexico)
“The Virtue of not-Knowing: Hannah Arendt and Auto-Deconstruction”
Wim Laven (Instructor of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Governing Council of International Peace Research Association)
“The Role of Philosophy in Healing a Divided America”
CFA: CPP @ APA Central 2022
Concerned Philosophers for Peace
2022 Central Division Program, Palmer House Hilton
Chicago, IL, February 23-26, 2022.
Call for Abstracts
SESSION 1: Celebrating the Work of Bat-Aman Bar On
Bat-Ami Bar On, professor of philosophy, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Judaic Studies at Binghamton University, director of the university’s Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, passed away in 2020. Professor Bar On was a vibrant, brilliant, and deeply thoughtful person, and we invite abstracts on papers that engage with Bar On’s life, work, and impact on nonviolence and peace.
Her philosophical interests were diverse, but all connected with a thread of responding to violence. From the most individualized (constitution of violent bodies), to the more international—refugees and what we ought to do for them. Her final published article was on Fascism (“But Is It Fascism?”), but her latest interest were refugees.
SESSION 2: General Session On Nonviolence, Peace, and Related Topics
We invite abstracts dealing with any topic relevant to nonviolence and peace studies.
Submission Guidelines
Submit: an abstract (with bibliography) of no more than 500 words, prepared for blind review
Send to: Court Lewis (cdlewis1@pstcc.edu)
Write: “APA 2022 submission” in subject line
Deadline: August 20, 2021
Format: submit only files in .doc, .docx, or .pdf.
Include: name, institutional affiliation, e-mail address, and paper title in the body of your e-mail
Acceptance notices will be sent by September 1, 2021
CPP @ APA Pacific 2014
April 16, Wednesday Evening, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The Westin Gaslamp Quarter
910 Broadway Circle
San Diego, California 92101
Group Meeting G2A
Concerned Philosophers for Peace
Topic: Philosophy, Peace, and Exigent Circumstances
Speakers:
Ron Hirschbein (Walden University)
“‘Hell No! We Won’t Go!’: Vietnam Draft Resistance”
Ovadia Ezra (Tel Aviv University)
“Civil Disobedience: A Refusenik’s Perspective”
George Larkin (Walden University)
Tanya Settles (Walden University)
“Ethics and Exigent Circumstance”
Commentator: Kevin Darnell (U.S. Naval War College)
CPP @ APA Central – 2014
Thursday Evening, February 27: 5:30–7:30 p.m.
Group Session GIII-9 : Concerned Philosophers for Peace
Session Topic: “Forgiveness, Letting Die, and Species Neutrality”
Chair: Greg Moses (Texas State University)
Title: “The Problem of Identity in Forgiveness”
Presenter: Wim Laven, Doctoral student in International Conflict Management, Kennesaw State University
Title: “Dangers of Letting Die in Conflict Situations”
Presenter: Court Lewis, Instructor of Philosophy, Owensboro Community and Technical College
Title: “Must Pacifism Be Species Neutral?”
Presenter: Carlo Filice, Professor of Philosophy, SUNY – Geneseo
CPP @ APA Central – 2013 New Orleans
Group session 27
Sponsored by Concerned Philosophers for Peace
tentative time Saturday, February 23, 12:15 PM- 2:15 PM
Topic: Love, Justice for Nonhumans, and Risking Oneself
Greg Moses (Independent Scholar), chair, “”
Predrag Cicovacki (College of the Holy Cross), speaker, “Strength to Love and be Nonviolent: Analyzing King’s Sermons”
Carlo Filice (State University of New York-Geneseo), speaker, “Some Institutional Conditions for a Just Society with Nonhumans: The Mixed System and Democracy”
Danielle Poe (University of Dayton), speaker, “Responding to Need: Martin Luther King Jr. and Leymah Gbowee”
CPP @ APA Central – 2012 Chicago
Concerned Philosophers for Peace:
Group Meeting Central APA
February 15-18, 2012
Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL
Session Title: “Philosophies of Nonviolence”
Friday, Feb. 17
7:30pm – 10:30pm
Chair: Danielle Poe
CPP President
Presentations:
“Tolstoy’s Ethics of Christian Love and Nonviolence”
Predrag Cicovacki
College of the Holy Cross
Worcester, MA
“The Philosophy of Nonviolence of the Late American Philosopher J. Glenn Gray”
Paul Churchill
George Washington University
“Peace through . . . ? Exploring Peacebuilding Initiatives”
Tracey Nicholls, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Lewis University
CPP @ APA Eastern – 2012 Atlanta
SATURDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 29th
GIX – 1. Concerned Philosophers for Peace
1:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Topic: Assessing the Philosopher King: Reflections on themes from the
book The Liberatory Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Chair: Gail Presbey (University of Detroit – Mercy)
Speakers: Robert E. Birt (Bowie State University)
“The Liberatory Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Editing the Critical Essays”
Kathryn Gines (Pennsylvania State University)
“Challenges to the Relevance of King’s Philosophy”
Greg Moses (Austin Community College)
“Approaching King through the Value Theory of Alain Locke’”
CPP @ APA Eastern – 2011 Call for Papers
Greetings,
Concerned Philosophers for Peace is sponsoring a Group Session at the 2011 Eastern Division APA Meeting to be held from Tuesday, December 27 to Friday, December 30 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC.
Papers on any topic appropriate for CPP sponsorship will be considered. You should submit a substantial summary of your talk (one that is sufficient to allow appraisal) no later than April 1, 2011. Your summary should be emailed as an attachment in PDF, Word Perfect, or RTF format to john.lango@hunter.cuny.edu
Best wishes,
John
John W. Lango
CPP liaison with Eastern Division APA
Professor Emeritus
Department of Philosophy
Hunter College of the City University of New York
CPP @ APA Pacific – 2011 San Diego
GROUP SESSION American Philosophical Association
Pacific Division
Hilton Bayfront
Thursday April 21, 6:00-9:00pm
Perspectives on the Middle East
David Boersema
“Positive Peace and the Middle East”
Pacific University
boersema@pacificu.edu
Andrew Fiala
“Pluralism, Religion, and Peace”
Cal State Univ. Fresno
afiala@csufresno.edu
Ovadia Ezra
“Moral Responsibility at the End of Military Occupation”
Tel Aviv University
ovadia@post.tau.ac.il
Ron Hirschbein
“Confessions of a Self-Hating Jew”
Walden University
hirschbein@sbcglobal.net
Fuat Gursozlu
“Strife, Violence, and Harm”
Binghamton University
(unable to attend)
fgursozlu@yahoo.com
CPP @ APA Central – 2011 Minneapolis
GROUP SESSION American Philosophical Association
Central Division
Minneapolis Hilton
Saturday April 2, 12:15-2:15
Concerned Philosophers for Peace (CPP)
Session Title:
“Conceptualizing Communication as Intercultural”
Chair:
Danielle Poe, Univ of Dayton
Participants:
Samuel Imbo, Hamline Univ
“Intercultural Dialogue in Muslim-majority Malaysia”
Gail Presbey, Univ of Detroit-Mercy
“Intercultural Communication and the Case of Arizona’s Ban on Ethnic Studies”
Eric Skoglund, Guest Panelist
“Intercultural Communication and the Case of Urban Art in Minneapolis”
CPP @ APA Eastern – 2010
Concerned Philosophers for Peace is sponsoring two Group Sessions at the 2010 Eastern Division APA Meeting that will be held from Monday, December 27 to Thursday, December 30, 2010, in Boston at the Marriott/Westin-Copley Connection.
(1) For the first of the two Group Sessions, we are calling for participants in a panel, the topic of which is: “The Responsibility to Protect (R2P): By Force of Arms or by Nonviolent Means?”
This topic is well-illustrated by a recent (January 2, 2010) front page article in the New York Times: “Fragile Calm Holds in Darfur After Years of Death.” Instead of by means of armed humanitarian intervention, this fragile calm in Darfur has been achieved (partly or wholly) by means of negotiations, peace agreements, and peacekeeping missions. But the fragility of the calm suggests such questions as the following. Should a credible threat of armed humanitarian intervention be made to preserve the calm?
Our goal is to have a panel representing a wide variety of points of view on this topic, including advocates of just war theory and advocates of nonviolence. Accordingly, there might be panel participants who are not CPP members. Formal papers are not required. Each panelist will have the opportunity to read a paper or to speak informally. Audience participation will be encouraged.
To be considered as a participant in this panel, you should submit a complete paper of 2,500-3000 words (one that can be presented in 20-25 minutes) or a substantial summary of an informal talk (one that is sufficient to allow appraisal of its suitability for the panel) no later than April 1, 2010. Your paper or summary should be emailed as an attachment in PDF, Word Perfect, or RTF format to john.lango@hunter.cuny.edu
(2) The second of the two Group Sessions will not have a specific topic. Papers on any topic appropriate for CPP sponsorship will be considered. A complete paper of 2,500-3000 words (one that can be presented in 20-25 minutes) or a substantial summary of an informal talk (one that is sufficient to allow appraisal) should be submitted no later than April 1, 2010. Your paper or summary should be emailed as an attachment in PDF, Word Perfect, or RTF format to john.lango@hunter.cuny.edu
Those who want to participate in this second Group Session should realize that the APA regularly includes the following statement in its letter about Group Sessions: “Two sessions will be allowed if time and space permit. (Up to this point I have always been able to accommodate requests for two sessions, but I cannot absolutely guarantee this.)”
Best wishes,
John
John W. Lango
CPP liaison with Eastern Division APA
Professor
Department of Philosophy
Hunter College of the City University of New York
CPP @ APA Eastern – 2009
John Lango has put together another very good session for this year’s
upcoming Eastern APA meeting. Everyone is encouraged to attend and here are the details:
APA EASTERN DIVISION MEETING 2009
TUESDAY AFTERNOON, DECEMBER 29, 2009
GROUP SESSION IX
1:30-4:30 p.m.
GIX-2. Concerned Philosophers for Peace
Topic: “Ethics and AfPak: Ethical Issues about U.S. Involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan”
Speakers:
Daniel Dombrowski (Seattle University)
Title of talk: “Afghanistan, Walzer, and the Question of Just Cause”
John W. Lango (Hunter College of the City University of New York)
Title of talk: “Is There a Just Cause for U.S. Military Operations in Afghanistan?”
George R. Lucas, Jr. (U.S. Naval Academy)
Title of talk: “Ethics and the ‘Human Terrain’: The Role of Academics in the Afghan War”
Eric Patterson (Georgetown University)
Title of talk: “Ethics and Af-Pak: Order, Justice, and Conciliation”
CPP @ APA Central – 2009 Chicago
CPP at APA Central
Palmer House Hilton Hotel, Chicago
Saturday, February 21, 12:15-2:15, session GV-5
Chair: Danielle Poe, University of Dayton
“Turning Swords Into Ploughshares: The Transformative Possibilities of Winter Soldier Movements,” Tracey Nicholls, Lewis University
“Ethics as First Philosophy:King, Levinas, and the Praxis of Peace,” Scott Davidson, Oklahoma City University and Maria D. Davidson, University of Oklahoma
“Agonism and Violence: Critique of an ‘Ethos of Democracy,’ ” Fuat Gursozlu, State University of New York, Binghamton
“Does extreme pacifsm need an after-life metaphysics?,” Carlo Filice, State University of New York, Geneseo
CPP @ APA Central 2009 – Call for Abstracts
Dear CPP members,
I am planning for the Central APA meeting. If you would like to present a paper at this meeting, please send me a 250 word abstract via email by August 30th, 2008.
In 2009, the APA Central Division is moving its annual meeting time to February. This will require moving forward the dates by which I need various information about group sessions. The 2009 meeting will be at the Palmer House Hilton hotel, Chicago, Illinois, Wednesday, February 18 to Saturday, February 21, 2009).
Sincerely,
Danielle
Danielle Poe, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Department of Philosophy
University of Dayton
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469-1546
Danielle.Poe@notes.udayton.edu
CPP @ APA Eastern 2008
John Lango has put together a very fine CPP session (see below) for the APA Eastern Division meeting this coming December. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend:
THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION, EASTERN DIVISION
ONE HUNDRED FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM
DECEMBER 27-30, 2008
Philadelphia, PA- Marriott Hotel
GROUP PROGRAM
SUNDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 2008
GROUP SESSION VI 7:30-10:30 P.M.
GVI-5. Concerned Philosophers for Peace
7:30-10:30 p.m.
Topic: The United States and the World: How Should the New President Change U.S. Foreign Policy?
Chair: John W. Lango (Hunter College-City University of New York)
Speakers: Joseph Betz (Villanova University)
George R. Lucas, Jr. (United States Naval Academy)
Jan Narveson (University of Waterloo-Canada)
Harry van der Linden (Butler University)
CPP @ APA 2008 – Pacific
Pasadena, March 19, 2008
Group Session GI-B.
Concerned Philosophers for Peace
6:30-8:00 p.m., Location TBA
Topic: Remembrance and Reconciliation
Speakers:
Jean-Marie Makang (Frostburg State University)
“Justice, Community, and Hope in Martin Luther King’s Nonviolent Struggle”
Ron Hirschbein (Walden University)
“Those Who Can’t Forget the Past Are Condemned to Repeat It”
Lee Walker (California State University–Chico)
“To Forget Is to Make Peace”
CPP @ APA – 2008 Chicago
Concerned Philosophers for Peace
APA Central Division
Chicago, April 17, 2008
7:30-10:30 PM. Room: TBA
Chair: Harry van der Linden, Butler University
Speakers:
Jan Narveson
Emeritus, University of Waterloo, Ontario
“Security Measures: How much buck for (saving the) bang?”
Greg Moses
Independent Scholar
“Spinoza’s World and M.L. King, Jr.: On the Ethics of Transforming all our Sorrows into Joys”
Tracey Nicholls
Lewis University
“Peace, Politics, and Enlightenment”
CPP @ APA Pacific 2006
Newsletter of the Concerned Philosophers for Peace, Vol. 26.2 (Fall 2006)
Call for Presentations
Concerned Philosophers for Peace Symposium at Pacific APA
San Francisco April 3-8
Ethics of Self-Defense
The realization that virtually every adversary claims to act in self-defense raises numerous possibilities for philosophical analysis. These possibilities include the following problematics:
What is the meaning of self-defense in an era of unprecedented lethal weapony, ambigous threats, and non-state actors?
What is permissible: What if any limits should be imposed on self-defense?
How can self-defense be justified? Is the right of self-defense simply intuitively obvious? Should it be scaffolded upon Just War Theory? Is it dervied from natural law? Or should self-defense be seen as the inevitable outcome of realpolitk?
Please e-mail proposed presentations to Ron Hirschbein [Rhirschbein@csuchico.edu] by Nov. 1.
CFP: CPP @ APA Central 2005
The CPP is organizing two sessions at the Central Division APA, Chicago, April 27-30, 2005. One session is on “rethinking just war theory.” The other session is open. Paper proposals are welcome. Please respond as soon as possible and no later than October 15 to Harry van der Linden at hvanderl at butler dot edu
CPP @ APA News by Gail Presbey (2004)
Presbey, Gail (Univ. of Detroit-Mercy). “CPP News” CPP Newsletter Vol. 24, No. 1 (Spring-Summer 2004).
Since the 2003 annual conference, CPP has been active, presenting panels at the Eastern, Pacific, and Central Divisions of the APA. I could not attend them all, but will report briefly on those I did attend.
Our CPP panel at the Pacific Division started with Kelly Candaele talking about Ireland’s “ripening” of the time for peace. Certain conditions were finally present which helped the transition to peace. Jerry Adams and others realized that they were at a military stalemate: neither side could win militarily. Sinn Fein then placed a greater emphasis on politics, and internationalized their support. Spirituality also played a role in helping break through a culture of pessimism. Wendy Hamblet followed with an analysis of perversions of democracy, reflecting on contemporary times in the light of Aristotle. She explained that in her analysis, “capitalist democracy” is an oxymoron. My paper followed, with an account of recently developed “technologies of surveillance” and how the Bush administration tries to fit them into narratives of meaning so that they will be acceptable. An attempt to pair “the good life” with surveillance was recently made in the Dean Koontz film “Black River” which was analyzed in the paper. This panel was organized and chaired by Ron Hirschbein, who added his witty commentary after each presentation.
Let me comment briefly on the larger context of the APA at Pasadena. There were several good panels looking at the War on Terror and questions of Just War. Lionel McPherson, Kai Draper, and Virginia Held were on one such panel. Eduardo Mendienta, Ronald Sundstrom and Tommy Lott addressed issues of racism and genocide. The main APA conference was immediately followed by a conference on Social Justice sponsored by the Journal of Ethics. Soran Reader, Larry May, Lisa Portness, and Tim Challens had an interesting panel on War, Criminal Justice, and military tribunals. J. Angelo Corlett was on a panel which scrutinized his recent book on terrorism. James Sterba, Dale Jamison, Robert Goodin and Thomas Pogge discussed global poverty. It is heartening to see so many philosophers turning their attention to these issues.
During the social justice conference, three CPP members were on a panel exploring non-violence as a means of social change. Greg Moses explored the writings of an early immigrant to “New Amsterdam” in 1658 named Plockhoy, who, while critical of Cromwell back in England, became concerned about the group’s need to defend itself against Native Americans. Ironically, the whole town was destroyed, not by Native Americans, but by the British army. Moses concludes that an America which is too concerned about its dark skinned enemies, doesn’t realize that their own built-up standing armies are actually their greatest threat. Jose-Antonio Orosco shared his paper on Cesar Chavez’s commitment to nonviolence, and his reasons for eschewing violence against property. I followed with a paper about the role of nonviolence in the South African struggle against apartheid, and the debate within South Africa on whether violence or nonviolence is to be given the credit for the struggle’s successes. Several of the philosophers present at the Social Justice conference showed interest in joining CPP, and we hope that they can join us at our upcoming conference.
At the Central APA in Chicago, Harry van der Linden organized a well-attended panel which discussed aspects of the Iraq War. Ann Cudden spoke of ways in which women in Iraq are suffering during the U.S. Occupation. In the 1980s, Iraq was one of the more progressive Middle Eastern governments. For example, women could run for elected office. Women’s rights began to be eroded throughout the nineties. Now, men, whose honor was wounded in war, want to regain their honor by lording over their women. There is a fight within the Iraqi Governing Council regarding the defense of women in the future Iraq constitution. James Sterba argued that the U.S. should pull out of Iraq immediately. Not only was the invasion not justified to begin with, but in addition, things are worse the longer the U.S. remains inside Iraq. Dick Peterson explored whether there could be a defensible neo-colonialism, in which occupied and occupier have some kind of reciprocity between them. Harry van der Linden argued that a justified humanitarian intervention may be followed by an unjust aftermath, or vice versa. He argued that the U.S. lacks occupational authority in Iraq. The audience participated in a lively question and answer session, despite the late hour.
Other Central APA sessions touched upon issues of peace in our world. One session organized by the APA Committee on the Status of Women was called “Making Peace in a Time of War.” One participant was CPP member Laura Duhan Kaplan, who analyzed the role that Jessica Lynch played in the media, and how Lynch herself did not want to be the media’s pawn. A panel on Sandra Bartky’s recent book Sympathy and Solidarity raised issues of conscience, guilt, complicity, and resistance to war, as Bartky referred to the slogan, “Not in my name,” to express a person’s ability to distance themselves from the complicity in their government’s wars. The Committee for International Cooperation hosted a two-part international dialog about challenges to peace in the Middle East. I would like to thank Laura Duhan Kaplan and Eddy Souffrant for organizing other CPP panels (at Eastern and Central) that I was not able to attend. I think the project of maintaining a presence at the APA meetings is important for CPP as an organization. It helps us to recruit new members, and engage a broader audience in the issues we raise. Please make a point, when you are attending an APA conference, to attend our CPP panels. Often they are in the evenings (the Group sessions are not at the most convenient times), but please make that extra effort to cut dinner short (or postpone sleep) and meet with other philosophers to analyze these important issues affecting peace in our world.
Having said that, I want also to emphasize that it’s important to come to the annual CPP conference as well. We can get lost in the bigger APA sessions, but the annual conference is where we can get together and find out what each other is thinking, give our feedback, and help to clarify our ideas. Please submit your paper ideas to the organizers at University of North Carolina-Charlotte for what promises to be a great gathering. And please remember to pay your dues and vote for a new President (see pages 22-23). We will be hearing a Presidential address from our winning candidate at the fall conference.
Booking Massai Dancers
Some of you may remember that two years ago at the CPP conference at Walsh University, there was a group from Kenya called the Simba Maasai Cultural Performers who shared some of their culture’s traditions with us. The group is particularly of interest to philosophers of peace, because the group addresses the peace-making aspects of their tradition. In fact, Francis and John ole Sakuda have created a “Peace Tree Museum” near their rural homes, where they document the role of plants and trees in peace-making rituals as well as medicinal uses. Francis has come annually to the U.N. Indigenous People’s forum, and is well-versed in the topic of the fight of indigenous peoples around the world for their rights. The group has been doing an annual tour of the U.S. each September and October. Please consider hosting them at your university. They perform traditional dances, songs and rituals, as well as lectures. They need travel expenses and housing covered, and an honorarium. Hopefully your university may have resources for such performances and lectures through a Student Activity fund. You’ll find that compared to local performers, their costs are quite reasonable. And, all of the proceeds they receive from their honoraria go straight to their nonprofit organization to further development in their area of Maasailand. If you are interested in hosting them this fall, please write me.