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Bradley hosts first ethics lecture

Kenneth Himes, an associate professor at Boston College, discussed the ethics of war and drone warfare Tuesday to a packed Marty Theatre. Photo by Maddie Gehling.
Kenneth Himes, an associate professor at Boston College, discussed
the ethics of war and drone warfare Tuesday to a packed Marty
Theatre. Photo by Maddie Gehling.

Bradley’s department of philosophy and religious studies hosted its first ethics lecture Tuesday night in Marty Theatre. The lecture commemorated the creation of a new ethics minor.

Kenneth Himes, an associate professor at Boston College, traveled to the Hilltop to speak about the ethics of “just war,” as well as American involvement with drone warfare to a full room.

The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies chose Professor Himes to give the ethics lecture because we recognized his new book – ‘Drones and the Ethics of Targeted Killing’ – as a well-written and well-argued piece of scholarship in ethics,” associate professor of philosophy and religious studies Jason Zaborowski said. “The topic of drones in warfare is of interest to all Americans … it is a responsibility of universities, such as Bradley, to foster a greater understanding of moral questions of drone use.”

Himes shared sections from his book “Drones and the Ethics of Targeted Killing,” and hosted a Q-and-A section.

Drones have become such transformative weapons recently,” Himes said. “They’ve just captured the attention of the public.”

Students in attendance said they thought the lecture covered an engaging topic.

I found the presentation really informative,” Andrew White, a junior accounting major, said. “Like [Himes] pointed out, people generally have pretty radical opinions about drones, so it was good to learn more facts about the topic before forming my own logical opinion on the matter.”

The Intellectual and Cultural Activities Committee at Bradley funded the lecture. According to Zaborowski, the group plans to host one ethics lecture each year.

The Bradley Ethics Lecture will be an annual event, and the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies is already planning the 2017 Bradley Ethics Lecture,” Zaborowski said.

Zaborowski also commented on the lecture being an “inaugural ceremony” for the new ethics minor, which has been in the works for a number of years.

Late spring of 2015 the ethics minor was approved by the Faculty Senate … but as of this spring, nine faculty from across different colleges of Bradley University have joined the ethics minor by offering their relevant courses in the program,” Zaborowski said.

The ethics minor requires 15 credit hours of coursework and includes philosophy and religious studies courses.

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