Just Philosophy: A Tribute to Jeff McMahan

We are pleased to announce a two-day conference in honor of Professor Jeff McMahan, marking his retirement from teaching and celebrating his 43 years of work in moral and political philosophy.

McMahan’s contributions to contemporary thinking on issues such as war, self- and other-defense, population ethics, and the moral status of animals, have challenged existing paradigms and opened new horizons of debate amongst moral philosophers, political theorists, and legal scholars.

The conference will take place at Corpus Christi College, where Professor McMahan has served as the Sekyra and White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy and a Professorial Fellow. Each of the keynote talks will be followed by a short commentary.

The program will also feature a special address by Larry Temkin, who will share personal reflections on McMahan’s career and the impact he has had on his students, colleagues, and others. 

For more information, please contact the organizer Elad Uzan (University of Oxford), at  [email protected]  

Friday, June 13 – Day 1

09:30 – 10:00: Gathering and coffee

10:00 – 11:30: Victor Tadros (University of Warwick), “Goodness, Valuing, Morality”
Chair: Cécile Fabre (University of Oxford)
Commentator: Saba Bazargan (University of California, San Diego)

11:30 – 11:45: Coffee break

11:45 – 13:15: Melinda Roberts (The College of New Jersey), “Can We Explain the Extinction Intuition? McMahan's Theory of the Merely Possible”
Chair: Tom Sinclair (University of Oxford)
Commentator: Tim Campbell (Institute for Futures Studies, Stockholm University)

13:15 – 14:15: Lunch for conference speakers and invited guests

14:15 – 15:45: Shelly Kagan (Yale University), “A Torrent of Tier Views”
Chair: David Edmonds (Uehiro Oxford Institute)
Commentator: Jonas Hertel (University of Oxford)

15:45 – 16:00: Coffee break

16:00 – 17:30: Frances Kamm (Rutgers University), “Nonconsequentialism and Climate Change”
Chair: Saul Smilansky (University of Haifa)
Commentator: Linda Eggert (University of Oxford)

17:30 – 18:45: Wine reception – all invited

19:00 – onwards: Dinner in Hall for invited guests, featuring a special address by Larry Temkin

Saturday, June 14 – Day 2 

09:30 – 10:00: Gathering and coffee

10:00 – 11:30: Thomas Hurka (University of Toronto), “McMahan on Conditional Just Causes”
Chair: Tom Simpson (University of Oxford)
Commentator: Alec Walen (Rutgers University)

11:30 – 11:45: Coffee break

11:45 – 12:30: Peter Singer (Princeton University and National University of Singapore), “Freedom of Thought and Discussion Today”
Chair: Nigel Warburton (Freelance philosopher)
Commentator: James Goodrich (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

12:30 – 13:15: Francesca Minerva (University of Milan), “McMahan’s Defence of Controversial Ideas”
Chair: Nigel Warburton (Freelance philosopher)
Commentator: James Goodrich (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

13:15 – 14:15: Lunch for conference speakers and invited guests

14:15 – 15:45: Helen Frowe (Stockholm University), “Two Puzzles About Proportionate Defence”
Chair: Jonathan Quong (University of Southern California)
Commentator: Kida Lin (University of Oxford)

15:45 – 16:00: Coffee break

16:00 – 17:30: Michael Otsuka (Rutgers University), “How Nonexistence is Worse for Us”
Chair: Gustaf Arrhenius (Institute for Futures Studies, Stockholm University)
Commentator: Theron Pummer (University of St Andrews)

17:30 – 18:30: Wine reception – all invited

18:30 – 19:30: A Concert for Jeff – all invited