Michael Walzer
Professor Emeritus, The Institute for Advanced Study
Michael Walzer is one of America's leading political philosophers. He is a professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and editor of Dissent, a left-wing quarterly of politics and culture. He has written on a wide range of topics, including just and unjust wars, nationalism, ethnicity, economic justice, social criticism, radicalism, tolerance, and political obligation. He is also a contributing editor to The New Republic and a member of the editorial board of Philosophy & Public Affairs. To date he has written 27 books and has published over 300 articles, essays, and book reviews. He is a member of several philosophical organizations including the American Philosophical Society.
The Princeton professor answers the Big Question “Does the free market corrode moral character?”
▸
9 min
—
with
Michael Walzer discusses his “Essays on Political Criticism”
▸
2 min
—
with
Michael Walzer reminds us that the hero of American capitalism was a complicated philosopher.
▸
2 min
—
with
An optimist, Michael Walzer thinks every person can eventually embrace democracy.
▸
2 min
—
with
Michael Walzer believes public education should be dominant in America.
▸
2 min
—
with
Michael Walzer thinks the U.S. should spread liberal democracy to other parts of the world—mostly, by example.
▸
3 min
—
with
Michael Walzer tells us why we should care.
▸
2 min
—
with
The major 20th century American philosopher was John Rawls, and he has had a very significant influence, although he is probably not a household name.
▸
1 min
—
with
Philosophy needs to interact with the more ordinary moral conversation of humankind in order to stay relevant.
▸
3 min
—
with
Walzer says it hasn’t.
▸
1 min
—
with
How does one judge other cultures?
▸
6 min
—
with
Putting the question thus essentializes cultures, Walzer says.
▸
2 min
—
with
The left was expecting mass secularization, Walzer says.
▸
5 min
—
with
Someone has to intervene in Darfur, Michael Walzer says; not necessarily the U.S.
▸
2 min
—
with
President Bush, Walzer says, has created a new category of prisoner.
▸
3 min
—
with
Was 9/11 a declaration of war? Were we justified in invading Afghanistan? Michael Walzer thinks we were.
▸
3 min
—
with
Should citizens feel guilty for not joining the army to end the Iraq war?
▸
9 min
—
with
Some of the troubles that we have had in Iraq after ’03 come from the loss of confidence of trust that we produced by our behavior in ’91, Walzer says.
▸
2 min
—
with
No government will send young men into battle to kill and be killed without offering some justification for what they are doing, Walzer says.
▸
5 min
—
with
No one, Walzer says, is talking honestly about Iraq.
▸
2 min
—
with
Walzer is wary of McCain’s sudden turn to the right.
▸
2 min
—
with
Political philosophers don’t have any special insights into daily politics, Walzer says, but one candidate does stick out.
▸
3 min
—
with
We were once headed toward a more egalitarian society, Walzer says.
▸
3 min
—
with
Walzer’s interests are as diverse as his influences.
▸
2 min
—
with
