‘Ethics of war’

To mark the one hundreth anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, the Church of Ireland’s Historical Centenaries Working Group is organising a discussion on the ‘Ethics of War’ on Wednesday, 19 November 2014. Professor Nigel Biggar of the University of Oxford will deliver a presentation based on his recent book In Defence of War (Oxford, 2013) with Professor Keith Jeffrey of Queen’s University, Belfast, acting as respondent. The event will be chaired by COIHS committee member, Professor David Hayton, who will open up debate and discussion to the audience.

The event is free and will take place at 7.30pm in the newly refurbished Music Room of Christ Church Cathedral. Members of the public are welcome to attend without pre-registering. However, if you are intending on coming to the talk it would be helpful to inform organisers in advance by emailing press@ireland.anglican.org

Information on speakers:

Professor Biggar is Regious Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Christ Church, Oxford. He is also director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life. After reading Modern History at Worcester College, Oxford, Nigel Biggar proceeded to study religion, theology, and ethics in Canada and the USA. On his return to Oxford in 1985 he became Librarian and Research Fellow at Latimer House, and then for most of the 1990s he was Chaplain and Fellow of Oriel College. In 1999 he took the Chair of Theology at the University of Leeds; and in 2004 he moved to the Chair of Theology and Ethics at Trinity College Dublin. He arrived in Christ Church in the autumn of 2007. In Defence of War was published in 2013.

Professor Keith Jeffery is Professor of British History at Queen’s University, Belfast. He was educated in Ireland, the USA and Cambridge (St John’s College), where he won the Prince Consort Prize and Seeley Medal. In 2005 he went to Queen’s, after teaching at the Ulster Polytechnic and the University of Ulster for over 20 years. From 1988 to 1997 he was joint–editor of Irish Historical Studies, and is currently chair of the journal’s board of directors. In 1997–98 he was a visiting fellow at the Australian National University and the Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales. In 1998 he was Lees Knowles Lecturer in Military Science at Trinity College Cambridge, and in 2003–04 Parnell Fellow in Irish Studies at Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 2004 he was also a visiting research fellow at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. He was awarded the Templer Medal from the Society for Army Historical Research in 2007 for the best book of the year (his biography of Sir Henry Wilson) on British Military History. In 2009 he was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy.