Paul Morrow 
Philosophy

Books

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Seeing Atrocities: Ethics for Visual Encounters with Intolerable Harms

Forthcoming with Oxford University Press

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Identifies five distinguishing features of visual encounters with atrocities. Defends specific norms for seeing, sharing, or exhibiting such harms. 

 

Museums and Mass Violence, co-edited with Amy Sodaro & Leora Kahn

Forthcoming with Routledge

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Assesses the ethics and aesthetics of exhibiting mass violence in museum spaces. Brings together contributions by designers, curators, and museum scholars working in six continents.

Website

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Unconscionable Crimes: How Norms Explain and Constrain Mass Atrocities

MIT Press, September 2020 

 

Presents the first general theory of the influence of norms on genocide and mass atrocity.  Employs testimonial and documentary sources from the Fortunoff Archive, the Wiener Library, USHMM, and elsewhere.

Website

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Listen to my podcast with New Books in Philosophy host Robert Talisse ​

Read my interview with political scientist Alexandra Budabin​

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Selected Articles and Book Chapters

Holocaust Education and Human Rights Advocacy on TikTok

Jewish Film and New Media Studies, 2024

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Distinguishes several kinds of Holocaust-related content on TikTok and asks what effective education and advocacy about mass violence might look like on this platform.

 

The Meaning of Mass Atrocity Beyond Our Moral Fate

Analyse & Kritik, 2020​

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Asks what the historical record of mass atrocities can tell us about the prospects for durable moral progress in human societies. Focuses particular attention on philosopher Allen Buchanan's recent monograph, Our Moral Fate.

 

Naturalizing the Centennial: History, Memory, and the Limits of Human Lifespans

Memory Studies, 2020

 

Provides a naturalistic account of centennials based on upper limits to human lifespans. Shows how these limits explain centennials' key functions as standards of greatness, mirrors of progress, and spurs to renovation. Considers how centennial practices might change in a future age of extended longevity. View Abstract

 

Identity-Directed Norm Transformations and Moral Progress

Journal of Value Inquiry, 2019

 

Analyzes the relationship between identity-instituting and identity-vindicating norm transformations. Draws on archival sources to show that such transformations can provide both evidence of, and mechanisms for, moral progress. Get Paper

 

Contingent Pacifism

Routledge Handbook of Pacifism and Nonviolence, 2018

 

Defends a contingent pacifist position towards personal participation in war. Critiques the account of individual decision-making about prospective military service offered in L.A. Paul's Transformative Experience, and provides an alternative analysis of the moral and epistemic conditions for this choice. View Abstract

 

A Theory of Atrocity Propaganda 

Humanity, 2018 

 

Develops a novel theory of atrocity propaganda rooted in C.L. Stevenson's notion of persuasive definition. Explains how accusations of engaging in atrocity propagandizing can themselves serve propagandistic purposes, and outlines strategies for defusing this threat. Get Paper

 

Are Holocaust Museums Unique? 

Philosophy, 2016

 

Argues that Holocaust museums are comparable to other kinds of museums in their selection of exhibits, strategies for educating patrons, and reliance on professional/artifactual networks. View Abstract

 

The Thesis of Norm Transformation in the Theory of Mass Atrocity 

Genocide Studies and Prevention, 2015 

 

Clarifies and defends claim that changes in norms are central the explanation and prevention of genocide and other mass atrocities. Considers the evaluative implications of this thesis. Get Paper

 

Mass Atrocity and Manipulation of Social Norms 

Social Theory and Practice, 2014 

 

Assesses means by which manipulation of social norms may help encourage, or alternatively deter, individual participation in mass atrocity. Provides detailed discussion of the historical case of Nazi language rules. Get Paper