Targeted Killings

Claire Finkelstein is the Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, and a co-Director of the University of Pennsylvania Institute of Law and Philosophy. She writes in the areas of criminal law theory, moral and political philosophy, philosophy of law, international law, and rational choice theory. A particular focus of her work is bringing philosophical rational choice theory to bear on legal theory, and she is particularly interested in tracing the implications of Hobbes' political theory for substantive legal questions. Recently she has also been writing on the moral and legal aspects of government-sponsored torture as part of the U.S. national security program. In 2008 Finkelstein was a Siemens Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, during which time she presented papers in Berlin, Leipzig, and Heidelberg. She is currently working on her book, Contractarian Legal Theory, and is the editor of Hobbes on Law (Ashgate, 2005).

Jens Ohlin's research and teaching interests are focused on criminal law theory, public international law, and international criminal law. He is the author, with George Fletcher, of Defending Humanity: When Force is Justified and Why (Oxford University Press, 2008), which offers a new account of international self-defense through a comparative analysis of the rules of self-defense in criminal law. His scholarly work has appeared in top law reviews and journals, including the Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Harvard International Law Journal, American Journal of International Law, and several OUP edited volumes. His current research focuses on the normative application of criminal law concepts in international criminal law, especially with regard to genocide, torture, joint criminal enterprise and co-perpetration, as well as the philosophical foundations of collective criminal action.


Andrew Altman is Professor of Philosophy at Georgia State University and Director of Research of the Jean Beer Blumenfeld Center for Ethics. Previously, he taught at George Washington University and Bowling Green State University. Professor Altman was a Liberal Arts Fellow in Law at the Harvard Law School and has published extensively in legal and political philosophy. His publications include the books, Critical Legal Studies: A Liberal Critique (Princeton U.P.), Arguing About Law: An Introduction to Legal Philosophy (Wadsworth) and A Liberal Theory of International Justice (co-authored with Christopher H. Wellman; O.U.P.) His articles have appeared in Philosophy and Public Affairs and Ethics, among other leading philosophy journals.