Christoph Baumgartner, born in Crailsheim, Germany, in 1969. Ph.D. from the Universität Tübingen. Assistant Professor of Ethics at Utrecht University.

Fellow (1 September 2008 – 31 January 2009)

THE RECEPTION OF AUGUSTINE IN THE CONTEMPORARY ETHICAL DEBATE ON WAR

During my 5 month fellowship at NIAS in 2008/2009, I worked primarily on an overview of the reception of Augustine’s considerations on war in important parts of the ethical debate on war throughout the ages. This resulted in a contribution to the Oxford Guide to the Historical Reception of Augustine. I also focused on J.B. Elshtain’s work on the just war tradition and in particular on the “War Against Terror” after 9/11 which is highly influenced by Augustine. I prepared two articles on this topic.

Lastly, I was able to lay the foundations of a new ethical research project on “The use and misuse of religiously offensive acts for religion in democratic and pluralistic societies.”