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person1960s-present

Michael Walzer

Disciplines:
political philosophy
ethics

Summary

American political philosopher who developed the communitarian critique of Rawlsian liberalism and wrote the most influential 20th-century work on just war theory.

Core Contribution

Just and Unjust Wars: the dominant modern framework for the ethics of war — jus ad bellum, jus in bello, non-combatant immunity, double effect. Spheres of Justice: justice requires that different goods (money, power, care, education) be distributed by different principles — dominance of one sphere over others is tyranny. Interpretation and Social Criticism: moral criticism is immanent, not transcendent.

Notable Works & Achievements

Just and Unjust Wars

Spheres of Justice

Thick and Thin

Historical Influences

John Rawls Antonio Gramsci

Intellectual Lineage

Communitarianism Political Philosophy

Contemporaries & Peers

Michael Sandel Charles Taylor

Minds Influenced

Just War Theory International Law

Intellectual Posterity

Just War Theory Spheres of Justice

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Michael Walzer

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