Ep 50: A Critique of the Just War Theory with Laurie Calhoun

Summary – A Critique of the Just War Theory with Laurie Calhoun

In this episode, I sit down once again with Laurie Calhoun to critique ‘Just War’ Theory. Laurie is a philosopher, a cultural critic and an author. She is a senior fellow at the Libertarian Institute, where she regularly writes articles analyzing war and the military industrial complex.

We discuss her 2013 book War and Delusion, which is a devastating philosophical and empirical critique of the ‘just war’ theory, which posits that there are conditions under which a war can be justly waged. We explore the inconsistencies of the just war theory, the medieval Christian assumptions that undergird it, the ways in which it has been consistently applied to legitimate American foreign policy, and how it has ultimately led us to war in Ukraine.

Laurie Calhoun is a philosopher, a cultural critic and an author. She is a senior fellow at the Libertarian Institute, where she regularly writes articles analyzing war and the military industrial complex. Her books include We Kill Because We Can, which is about drone warfare, and the book which we will be discussing today, War and Delusion.

Media Referenced:

• War and Delusion, Laurie Calhoun
• Other Articles: https://libertarianinstitute.org/author/lcalhoun/
• Blog for We Kill Because We Can: https://thedroneage.wordpress.com/aboutlauriecalhoun/
• Twitter: @laurielcalhoun
• Ep. 15 | The Military Industrial Cult: https://theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.buzzsprout.com/1978104/11111308