Robert Paul Churchill
Professor of Philosophy

Areas of Specialization: environmental philosophy, ethics and international affairs, social and political philosophy, history of modern philosophy, logic

Professor Paul Churchill's research and teaching interests are primarily in the areas of human rights, nonviolent philosophies, global ethics, peace studies, and political philosophy. Always interested in cross-disciplinary studies, his present book project, Consuming Desires, brings together a study of the virtues, moral psychology, the vices implicated in oppression, consumer behavior, and business organization. Paul has had a major role in the design of interdisciplinary courses and curricula at GW including the University Honors Program, the interdisciplinary Humanities Program, and the Peace Studies Program. He served as president of Concerned Philosophers for Peace twice and for eight years as director of the Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World.

Current Research Projects: Preparing a book manuscript, Consuming Desires: Greed, Oppression, and Exploitation; writing articles on human rights for Global Ethics forthcoming from Westview Press, and on virtues and vices in the board room.

Selected Publications

• "Globalization and Terror," Parceling the Globe: Philosophical Explorations in Globalization, Global Behavior and Peace, Danielle Poe and Eddy Souffrant, eds., (New York and Amsterdam: Rodopi Press, 2008).
• "Neutrality and the Virtue of Toleration," Toleration, Neutrality and Democracy, Dario Castiglione and Catriona Mckinnon, eds., (Dordrecht and London: Kulwer Academic Publishers, 2004).
• "Civil Disobedience" and "Genocide," Global Studies Dictionary, Alexander N. Chumkov, Ivan S. Muzour, and William C. Gay, eds., (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2006).
• Human Rights and Global Diversity, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005).
• "Is There a Paradox of Altruism?" Co-authored with Erin Street, Altruism and Justice, ed., Jonathan Seglow (London: Frank Case, 2004).
• "Human Rights and National Sovereignty: Re-conceiving the International System," Community, Diversity, and Difference: Implications for Peace, eds., Alison Bailey and Paula J. Smithka (New York and Amsterdam: Rodopi Press, 2002).
• "The Obligation of Parents to Raise Their Children as Altruists," Morals, Marriage and Parenthood: An Introduction to Family Ethics, ed., Laurence D. Houlgate, (Belmont, CA and New York: Wadsworth/International Thomson Publishing, 1999).
• "What Is the Ethics of Teaching?" Values and Education, ed., Thomas Magnell, (Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi Press, 1998).
• Democracy, Social Values and Public Policy, ed. and intro., with Milton Carrow and Joseph Cordes, (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1998).
• Interpreting the Jihad of Islam: Militarism Versus Muslim Pacifism, From the Eye of the Storm: Regional Conflicts and the Philosophy of Peace, eds., Laurence Bove and Laura Duhan Kaplan, (Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi Editions, 1995)
• "Bosnia and Somalia: Why Is It So Hard to Stop Massacre and Genocide?" From the Eye of the Storm: Regional Conflicts and the Philosophy of Peace, eds., Laurence Bove and Laura Duhan Kaplan, (Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi Editions, 1995).
• "Nonviolent Resistance as the Moral Equivalent of War," In the Interest of Peace: A Spectrum of Philosophical Views, eds., Kenneth Klein and Joseph Kunkel, (Wolfboro, NH: Longwood Academic Press, 1990).
• Becoming Logical: An Introduction to Logic, (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986)
• "Nuclear Arms as A Philosophical and Moral Issue," Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 469 (September 1983).
• "Dworkin's Philosophy of Constitutional Law," Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Fall 1980).

Links: Concerned Philosophers for Peace, President twice. Society for Philosophy in the Contemporary World. I was co-founder and served as Director of the Executive Board for the first 8 years. Banaa: The Sudan Student Empowerment Network. I serve as faculty advisor and PI on grant applications for this GW student group.

Education

Ph.D., M.A., B.A., The Johns Hopkins University