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Call for Papers
Theme: The Theory of Just War
Subtitle: Behind the Jurisprudential Defense of (Abstaining from)
Military Action
Type: International Conference
Institution: Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University
Łazarski Univesity
Location: Warsaw (Poland)
Date: 13.–14.10.2015
Deadline: 31.5.2015
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A Conference Commemorating the 600th Anniversary of the Presentation
of Paul Vladimiri’s Corpus Diplomaticum Warsaw
Keynote Speaker:
Professor Michael Walzer, the author of “Just and Unjust Wars” (1977),
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey
On 5th July 1415 the participants of the Council of Constance – a
historically pivotal gathering of the ruling and clerical elite of
contemporary Europe – were provided with the first of a series of
legal writings concerning a momentous dispute between the Kingdom of
Poland and the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in
Jerusalem (the Teutonic Knights). The case centered around the
legitimacy of military attacks undertaken by the State of the
Teutonic Order on the region of Samogitia (northwestern part of
today’s Lithuania), whose inhabitants were the last ethnic group in
Europe to resist conversion to Christianity. Arguing for the Polish
side was Paul Vladimiri (Paweł Włodkowic), rector of the Jagiellonian
University in Kraków, who, following the most prominent theological
and legal thinkers of the time, defended the rights of pagans to have
their own states, safe from the attacks of Christians, provided they
themselves refrained from attacking their Christian neighbours. Based
on the idea of mutual tolerance and peaceful coexistence between
different political communities, Paul Vladimiri’s argumentation has
gone down in history as one of the prototype versions of the theory
of just war. 600 years after its original presentation, some
fundamental issues raised during the medieval dispute are still of
utmost urgency:
- What type of rationale legitimizes the use of force against an
autonomous political community?
- What are the preconditions of a morally/legally justified military
intervention undertaken on the territory of an independent state?
- Which international institution possesses the entitlement to
authorize the enforcement of universally recognized standards of
execution of political power, e.g. respect for basic human rights?
- Are there any moral/legal constraints on the membership in alliances
aimed at eliminating specific threats to world peace?
- To what extent are individual people responsible for the aggressive
policy of (morally deplorable use of force by) their state leaders?
Answers to these and many other questions related to the idea of just
war will be discussed during a conference held at Cardinal Stefan
Wyszyński University, Warsaw, Poland, on 13-14 October 2015.
We are inviting proposals for paper presentations (up to 20 minutes
long) that will contribute to the conference debate. Themes of
presentations, accompanied by paper abstracts (maximum 300 words),
should be submitted by May 31, 2015, via e-mail to:
[email protected]
PDF copies of Paul Vladimiri’s writings (the Latin original with its
Polish and English translations) as well as the abstract submission
form are available on the conference web page:
www.saevientibus2015.pl
Selected presenters will be contacted via e-mail by June 15, 2015 and
required to register. Accepted papers will be considered for
publication in an edited volume on the conference theme.
Registration procedure must be completed by September 15, 2015 by
paying the conference fee of 100 EURO (or 115 USD; for details, see
the Practical Information tab)
The conference fee does not cover accommodation. The organizers may
assist participants in making hotel reservations (selected options
are presented in the Practical Information tab of the conference web
page).
Organizing Committee:
Adam Cebula, PhD
Przemysław Gawron, PhD
Magdalena Płotka, PhD
Conference website:
http://www.saevientibus2015.pl
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