publications by Laurie Calhoun

Books:

New in 2023:

We Kill Because We Can: From Soldiering to Assassination in The Drone Age, Zed Books/Bloomsbury, 2015. Paperback edition with a new foreword published in September 2016.

War and Delusion: A Critical Examination, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Softcover edition with updates and a new foreword published in September 2016.

Philosophy Unmasked: a skeptic’s critique, University Press of Kansas, 1997.

Theodicy: A Metaphilosophical Investigation, 2018.

You Can Leave: a novel, 2018.

Laminated Souls: a novel, 2022.

 

Experimental Works on Philosophy & Metafiction:

 

 

 

 

Audiobooks now available from Audible:

 

 

• Listen to a five-minute sample of We Kill Because We Can, or download a full copy of the audiobook free with a trial membership to Audible.
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• Listen to a five-minute sample of Theodicy, or download a full copy of the audiobook free with a trial membership to Audible.

 

• Listen to a five-minute sample of You Can Leave, or download a full copy of the audiobook free with a trial membership to Audible.

 

Book Chapters and Essays Reprinted in Books:

• “Targeted Killing and Drone Warfare,” Routledge Handbook of Critical Terrorism Studies, edited by Richard Jackson, Routledge, 2016, 190–200.
• “Terror from Above and Within: The Cultural Cost of Lethal Drones,” in Assessing the War on Terror: Western and Middle Eastern Perspectives, edited by Charles Webel and Mark Tomass, Routledge, 2017.
• “The Phenomenology of Paid Killing,” reprinted in Criminal Psychology, a four-volume set in the SAGE Benchmarks in Psychology series, edited by David Canter, SAGE Publications, August 2014, 307–322. First published in International Journal of Human Rights, Volume 6, no. 1, 2002, 1–18.
• “The Terrorist’s Tacit Message,” published in 2012, 2009, 2005, and 2003—the 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th editions of Contemporary Moral Problems, edited by James E. White, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Also reprinted by Wadsworth as part of an independently bound supplement (in 2012, 2008, 2005, and 2003), War and Terrorism. First published in Peace Review, Volume 14, no. 1, 2002, 85-95.
• “Moral Personhood, Human Security, and the War on Terrorism,” in The Ethics and Efficacy of the Global War on Terrorism, eds. Arnaldi and Webel. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, 65–86.
• “A Critique of Group Loyalty,” in The Challenge of Liberty: Classical Liberalism Today, eds. Robert Higgs and Carl P. Close. Oakland, CA: The Independent Institute, 2006, 245–260. First published in Independent Review, Volume 3, no. 1, 1998, 5–19.
• “The Paradox of Love and the Paradox of Morality: Triangular Reflections in Carol Reed’s The Third Man,” in Das integrale und das gebrochene Ganze, edited by Yvanka B. Raynova and Susanne Moser. Peter Lang Publishers, 2005, 305–315.
• “An Ethical Basis for Human Security and Its Implications for Peace-building,” in Conflict and Human Security: A Search for New Approaches of Peace-building, IPSHU English Research Report Series No. 19, eds. H. Shinoda and H. Jeong, Hiroshima: Institute for Peace Science, 2004, 271–308. Japanese language version, Tokyo: Kokusai Shoin, 2005, 275–290.
• “Violence and Hypocrisy,” in Walsh & Asch, eds., Just War: a casebook in argumentation, Boston: Heinle/Thomson, 2004, 114–129. First published, along with “Laurie Calhoun Replies [to Michael Walzer],” in Dissent, Volume 48, no. 1, Winter 2001, 79–87.

Selected Essays:

• “The Real Problem with Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS),” Peace Review, Issue 33(2), forthcoming 2021.
• “Totalitarian Tendencies in Drone Strikes by States,” in Drones and State Terror, a Special Issue of Critical Studies on Terrorism, Volume 11, no. 2, 2018, pp. 357-375. Download full article pdf here.
• “Death from Above: The Perils of Lethal Drones,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 73, no. 2, March-April, 2017.
• “The Drone Assassination Assault on Democracy,” ROAR magazine, Volume 1, no. 4, December 2016.

• “Drone Killing and the Disastrous Doctrine of Double Effect,” Peace Review, 2015, 27(4), 440–447.

• “The Limits of Lethality,” Peace Review, 2014, 26(1), 94–101.

• “Drone Dread,” New Politics, 2013, XIV(3): 139–145.

• “Human Rights or Just War?” Peace Review, 24(2), 2012, 163–170.

• “The Silencing of Soldiers,” Independent Review, 16(2), 2011, 247–270.

• “Neither Masks nor Gloves,” New Politics XIII/3(51), 2011, 72–78.

• “The End of Military Virtue,” Peace Review, 23(3), 2011, 377–386.

• Review essay: War is Not Over When It’s Over: Women Speak Out from the Ruins of War, by Ann Jones. New York: Metropolitan Books. 2010. In the Journal for Peace and Justice Studies, 21(2), 2011, 95–100.

• “Political Philosophers on War: Arguments inside the ‘Just War’ Box,” Independent Review, 15(3), 2011, 447–461.

• Review essay: Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics. Eds. Michael Barnett and Thomas G. Weiss. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. 2008. In the Journal for Peace and Justice Studies, 21(1), 2011, 87–91.

• “The Last King of Scotland,” review of the 2006 film by Kevin Macdonald, Transition 102, 2009, 156–7.

• “Yesterday,” review of the 2004 film by Darrell James Roodt, Transition 101, 2009, 78.

• “Black Gold,” review of the 2006 film by Marc Francis and Nick Francis, Transition 99, 2008, 71–72.

• “La Haine,” review of the 1995 film by Matthieu Kassovitz, Transition 98, 2008, 66.

• “The Debt,” translation of Marcel Zang’s (French) short story, “La dette,” Transition 99, 2008, 74–79.

• “Memory, History, Forgetting,” translation of Ayo Coly’s (French) essay on the film Indigènes, Transition 98, 2008, 150–153.

• “The Enemies of Democracy,” International Journal on World Peace, XXIV(2), 2007, 63–83.

• “Who’s Afraid of the ICC?” New Politics, XI/3(43), 2007, 106–112.

• “We Are Good, and They Are Evil,” Peace Review, 19(3), 2007, 237–245.

• “All About Darfur,” review of the 2005 film by Taghreed Elsanhouri, Transition 97, 2007, 16–17.

• “The Irrevocable Consequences of Cruelty,” Archipelago, Volume 11, 2007. http://www.archipelago.org/Volume11
• “The Evil & Irrational Enemy,” Left Curve 31, 2007, 4–11. Available online at: http://www.leftcurve.org/LC31WebPages/Enemy.html.
• “Michael Walzer on Just War Theory’s ‘Critical Edge’: More like a Spoon than a Knife,” Independent Review, Volume X, no. 4, 2006, 419–424.
• “Moral Personhood and Human Security,” International Journal of Peace Studies, Volume 10, 2005, 87–110.
• “Feminism is a Humanism,” American Philosophical Association Newsletters, Volume 5, no. 2, 2005, 10–13.
• “War and Degradation,” Peace Review, Volume 17.2-3, 2005, 221–229.
• “When the Smoke Clears: Regarding The Fog of War,” Left Curve 29, 2005, 44–48.
• “Everything you never wanted to know,” Review essay on Carl Boggs, ed., Masters of War: Militarism and Blowback in the Age of American Empire (2003), New Politics 39, 2005, 78–84.
• “Death and Contradiction: Errol Morris’ Tragic View of Technokillers,” Jumpcut 47, 2005. 
• Self Defence, Defence and Pre-emption,” Politics, Volume 24, no. 3, 2004, 181–188.
• “An Anatomy of Fanaticism,” Peace Review, Volume 16, no. 3, 2004, 349–356.
• “Pre-emption and Paradox,” Global Change, Peace & Security, Volume 16, no. 3, 2004, 197–210.
• “The Real Lesson of Abu Ghraib,” New Partisan, 24 July 2004. Re-posted at: http://peacephilosophy.org/?p=23
• “Is War a Form of Self-defense? a philosophical inquiry,” The Acorn, Volume XII, no. 2, 2004, 19–35.
• “The Problem of ‘Dirty Hands’ and Corrupt Leadership,” Independent Review, Volume VIII, no. 4, 2004, 363–385. 
• “[Recent Revolutions and Returns in Writing on Rape] Review of Brison, S., Aftermath (2000) and Cahill, A., Rethinking Rape (2001), American Philosophical Association Newsletters, Volume 3, no. 2, 2004, 122–123.
• “The Strange Case of Summary Execution by Predator Drone,” Peace Review, Volume 15, no. 2, 2003, 209–214.
• “Be All That You Can Be,” New Political Science, Volume 25, no. 1, 2003, 5–17.
• “How Violence Breeds Violence: Some Utilitarian Considerations,” Politics, Volume 22, no. 2, 2002, 95–108.
• “Legitimate Authority and ‘Just War’ in the Modern World,” Peace & Change, Volume 27, no. 1, 2002, 37–58.
• “Killing, Letting Die, and the Alleged Necessity of Military Intervention,” Peace and Conflict Studies, Volume 8, no. 2, 2001, 5–22. 
• “The Metaethical Paradox of Just War Theory,” Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Volume 4, no. 1, 2001, 41–58.
• “Regarding War Realism,” International Journal on World Peace, Volume XVIII, no. 4, 2001, 37–61.
• “The Contextual Relativism of Greatness as illustrated by Coppola’s Kurtz and Lean’s Lawrence,” Labyrinth, Volume 3, Autumn 2001. Available online at: http://labyrinth.iaf.ac.at/2001/Calhoun.html
• “Varieties of Naïveté,” The Acorn, Volume XI, no. 1, 2001, 21–35.
• “The Military’s Self-Fulfilling Prophecy,” Peace Review, Volume 13, no. 2, 2001, 273–280.
• “At What Price Repentance? Reflections on Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange,” Journal of Thought, Volume 36, no. 1, 2001, 17–34.
• “Relativism, Egoism and Reality,” Diálogos, Volume XXXVI, no. 77, 2001, 97–116.
• “Becoming One’s Self: The Existentialist Message of Wyler’s The Heiress,” Labyrinth, Volume 2, Winter 2000. Available online at: http://labyrinth.iaf.ac.at/2000/calhoun.html.
• “The Injustice of ‘Just Wars’,” Peace Review, Volume 12, no. 3, 2000, 449–455.
• “Just War? Moral Soldiers?” Independent Review, Volume 4, no. 3, Winter 2000, 325–345. 
• “Critical Reasoning Regarding War,” The Acorn, Volume X, no. 1, Summer 1999, pp, 5–26.
• “Problems of Explanation for Metaethical Relativists,” Diálogos, Volume XXXIII, no. 71, 1998, 121–130.
• “The Strange Case of Pluto and the Power of Persuasive Interpretation,” Éthica, Volume 9, no. 2, 1997, 118–126.
• “On Rape: A Crime Against Humanity,” Journal of Social Philosophy, Volume 28, no. 1, 1997, 101–109.
• “Moral Blindness and Moral Responsibility: What can we learn from Rhoda Penmark?” Journal of Applied Philosophy, Volume 13, no. 1, 1996, 41–50.
• “The Underdetermination of Theory by Data, “Inference to the Best Explanation,” and the Impotence of Argumentation,” Philosophical Forum, Volume 17, no. 2, 1996, 146–160.
• “Brandon Shaw, Neil Perry and the Perils of Education,” Journal of Thought, Volume 30, no. 2, 1995, 43–59.
• “The Philosophy of Discreditation: An Essay on Actuality and Possibility,” Journal of Social Philosophy, Volume 26, no. 2, 1995, 66–72.
• “Scientistic Confusion and Metaethical Relativism,” Éthica, Volume 7, no. 2, 1995, 53–72.
• “Some Simple Problems with Simplicity,” Reason Papers, no. 20, 1995, 109–112.
• “La Valeur Intrinsèque,” Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale (99), 1994, 245–255. (Note: this is a French translation of Gilbert Harman’s paper “Intrinsic Value.”)
• “Institutions and Deviance: Art and Psychiatry,” Critical Review, Volume 8, no. 3, 1994, 393–409.
• “The Intentional Fallacy,” Philosophy and Literature, Volume 18, 1994, 337–338.
• “A 231 Word Refutation of Churchland’s Vision,” Reason Papers, no. 19, 1994, 98.
• “Continental Divide: Problems with the Homogenization of Philosophy,” Nassau Review, April 16, 1992.

Forthcoming Books:

• The Drone Deception (expected 2023)
• The Tyrant’s Secret
• The Last Word