Beyond the Law’s Reach? Powerful Criminals, Foreign Entanglement, and Justice in the Shadow of Violence
with
Prof. Shmuel Nili
Northwestern University
June 18, 2025 at 14:15-15:45
Hybrid event: Zoom* and room 1013, Hamadrega building, University of Haifa**
* Link to zoom will be active here at the time of event
** See map here. For car entry permit to campus e-mail Michal at least one day before the event at: minervaextreme@univ.haifa.ac.il
Abstract
Nili’s book: Beyond the Law’s Reach? argues that fundamental assumptions in contemporary political philosophy need to be rethought in the face of pervasive political violence. At an applied level, Nili develops this claim by delving into a series of specific controversies, all revolving around affluent democracies’ policy responses to the threat of pervasive violence abroad. Examples include the ethics of giving refuge to beleaguered autocrats to avert civil war in their country, the ethics of prosecuting foreign officials who have colluded with drug cartels, and the admission of oligarchs who acquired their riches by distorting their country’s rule of law.
At a more theoretical level, the book shows that the moral principles needed to adjudicate these particular controversies can illuminate broader issues in normative political theory. These range from the philosophy of criminal punishment, through the relationship between the law’s letter and its spirit, to the general plausibility of certain moral theories (and meta-theories) as public policy guides. Ranging from influential theories of justice to some of the hardest moral dilemmas facing communities and leaders struggling with the shadow of violence, this book explores the difficult circumstances in which we must aside not just the assumption of a stable liberal democracy, but even the dream of a clear path towards such democracy.
Book details see here
Shmuel Nili (PhD Yale, 2016) teaches moral, legal and political philosophy at Northwestern University, where he is an Associate Professor of Political Science and (by courtesy) Philosophy. Nili has published widely in contemporary democratic theory, in leading journals in both philosophy and political science. He is the author of The people’s duty (Cambridge University Press, 2019); Integrity, personal and political (Oxford University Press, 2020); Philosophizing the indefensible (Oxford University Press, 2023), and, most recently, Beyond the law’s reach (Oxford University Press, 2024). Nili currently serves as the political theory editor for Perspectives on politics. In August 2025, he will be a resident scholar at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.
