Van der Linden has edited several books, including Rethinking the Just War Tradition. He is the author of Kantian Ethics and Socialism, and his most recent research and publications are focused on the morality of warfare, covering such topics as preventive war, asymmetric warfare, combatant’s privilege, and humanitarian intervention. Van der Linden teaches courses in moral theory, applied ethics, philosophy of law, the history of political philosophy, and contemporary social and political philosophy. His recent topical courses include “The Ethics of War and Peace” and a seminar on “Atrocity, Morality and Evil.” Van der Linden has served since 1998 as the treasurer of the Radical Philosophy Association and is currently the editor of the Radical Philosophy Review. He is interested in supporting progressive causes both on and off campus and served for several years as president of the Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center.
Articles
On the Violence of Systemic Violence: A Critique of Slavoj Žižek, Radical Philosophy Review (2012)
This paper questions the extension of the common notion of violence, i.e., “subjective violence,” involving...
From Combat Boots to Civilian Shoes: Reflections on The Chickenhawk Syndrome, Radical Philosophy Review (2010)
From Radical Philosophy Review 13:2 (2010): 173-180. This essay is part of a symposium on...
Just Military Preparedness, U.S. Military Hegemony, and Contingency Planning for Intervention in Sudan: A Reply to Lango and Patterson, International Journal of Applied Philosophy (2010)
This paper rejects most aspects of John W. Lango and Eric Patterson’s proposal that the...
Barack Obama, Resort to Force, and U.S. Military Hegemony, International Journal of Applied Philosophy (2009)
Just War Theorists have neglected that a lack of “just military preparedness” on the side...
Is Global Poverty a Moral Problem for Citizens of Affluent Societies?, The Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy (2007)
This paper contests the view of R. Bittner that global poverty is not a moral...
Books
Democracy, racism, and prisons (2007)
Papers from a conference held at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska on Nov. 2-5, 2006.
Note:...
Rethinking the just war tradition (with Michael W. Brough and John W. Lango) (2007)
The just war tradition is an evolving body of tenets for determining when resorting to...
Philosophy against empire (with Tony Smith) (2006)
The theme of the 6th biennial Radical Philosophy Association Conference, held at Howard University in...
Kantian ethics and socialism (1988)
No abstract available.
Note: Link is to the catalog entry in Butler University's catalog. Users...
Contributions to Books
From Hiroshima to Baghdad: Military Hegemony versus Just Military Preparedness, Philosophy after Hiroshima (2009)
In this paper I question the morality of U.S. military supremacy or hegemony in terms...
Questioning the Resort to U.S. Hegemonic Military Force, The Moral Dimension of Asymmetrical Warfare: Counter-terrorism, Democratic Values and Military Ethics (2009)
This paper seeks to defend the thesis that this American project of military hegemony has...
Just war theory and US military hegemony, Rethinking the Just War Tradition (2007)
Since the Soviet Union’s collapse, the United States has tried to cement its position as...
Would the United States Doctrine of Preventative War Be Justified as a United Nations Doctrine?, Philosophical Reflections on the 'War on Terrorism' (2007)
The Bush doctrine of preventive war aims at meeting weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threats...
The Left and Humanitarian Intervention, Liberation between Selves, Sexualities, and War (2006)
Bernard Kouchner, founder of the humanitarian aid organization Physicians without Borders, stated some time prior...
Reviews
Rich Man’s War, Poor Man’s Fight, Radical Philosophy Review (2011)
This article reviews The Casualty Gap: The Causes and Consequences of American Wartime Inequalities by...
Rationalizing the Global War on Terrorism, Capitalism, Nature, Socialism: A Journal of Socialist Ecology (2006)
This article reviews the book "The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror,"...
“Questioning Just War Theory,” review of Michael Walzer, Arguing About War, Radical Philosophy Review (2005)
This volume consists of previously published essays on war and ethics, written by Walzer after...
Review of Fear's Empire: War, Terrorism, and Democracy, Capitalism, Nature, Socialism: A Journal of Socialist Ecology (2004)
This article reviews the book "Fear's Empire: War, Terrorism, and Democracy," by Benjamin R. Barber.
...Review of Sharon Anderson-Gold, Unnecessary Evil: History and Moral Progress in the Philosophy of Immanuel Kant (2001), Kantian Review (2002)
This article reviews "Unnecessary Evil: History and Moral Progress in the Philosophy of Immanuel Kant,"...
Presentations
Barack Obama as Just War Theorist: The Libyan Intervention, Radical Philosophy Association at the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (2012)
President Barack Obama has clearly placed himself in the just war tradition, and so we...