Books authored, co-authored or edited by Robert L. Holmes
Introduction to Applied Ethics (London: Bloomsbury, 2018).
Pacifism: A Philosophy of Nonviolence (London: Bloomsbury, 2017).
The Ethics of Nonviolence: Essays by Robert L. Holmes, ed. P. Cicovacki, (London: Bloomsbury, 2013.
Basic Moral Philosophy, Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1993; 2nd edition, 1998. 3rd edition, 2003. 4th edition, 2006.
Nonviolence in Theory and Practice (editor), Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1990. Republished in 2001 by Waveland Press. 2nd edition (co-edited with Barry Gan), 2005. 3rd edition, 2012.
On War and Morality, Princeton University Press, 1989. Re-issued for inclusion in the Princeton Legacy Library.
Philosophic Inquiry, 2nd ed., with Lewis W. Beck, Prentice-Hall, 1968.
Articles and Reviews
1. "Tolstoy on War," in P. Cicovacki, ed., Tolstoy on War and Peace: philosophical perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024.
2. “Tolstoy’s Spiritual Nonviolence,” in Tolstoy and Spirituality, ed. Predrag Cicovacki and Heidi Nada Grek (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2018), 161-180.
3. “Pacifism and the Concept of Morality,” Andrew Fiala (ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Pacifism and Nonviolence (New York: Routledge, 2018), 105-116.
4. “Ahimsa, Nonviolence and the Practice of Medicine,” in P. Cicovacki and K. Hess (eds.), Nonviolence As a Way of Life: History, Theory and Practice, Vol 1 (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited: 2017), 155-170.
5. “The Metaethics of Pacifism and Just War Theory,” The Philosophical Forum, Vol. XLVI, No. 1, Spring 2015, 3-16.
6. “Morality,” in Morality: Diversity of Concepts and Meanings (in Russian and English). A Festschrift for Abdusalam Guseynov, ed. Olga Zubetz (Moscow: ALFA-M: 2014), 304-308.
7. “The Moral Presumption Against War,” (tr. into Russian by Olga Zubetz), in Posteegya Dobro, Festschrift for Russian philosopher, Ruben Apresyan. (Moscow: ALFA-M: 2013), 311-326.
8. “Affirmative Action, Diversity and Reparations: How Best to Deal with Social Inequality?,” The Hamline Review, Vol. 31, 2012, pp. 45-76.
9. “Toward a Nonviolent American Revolution,” The Acorn: Journal of the Gandhi-King Society, Vol. XIV, No. 2, Fall-Winter, 2011-2012, pp. 5-15.
10. “My (Non-)Teaching Philosophy,” Essays on Teaching by Winners of the Goergen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Vol. IV, University of Rochester, 2011, pp. 7-13.
11. Review of C.A.J. Coady, Morality and Political Violence (Cambridge University Press), Analysis Reviews, Vol. 69, No. 2, April 2009, pp. 390-392.
12. Review of Henrik Syse and Gregory M. Reichberg, eds., Ethics, Nationalism, and Just War: Medieval and Contemporary Perspectives.(Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2007, Pp. x, 405), in The International Review of History Vol. XXX No. 4: December 2008, pp. 822-823.
13. “NATO Intervention in Kosovo,” in Rising India: Friends and Foes, ed. Prakash Nanda (Lancer: New Delhi, 2007), pp. 190-207.
14. Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World:1750-Present, Oxford University Press, 2008, entries on “Nonviolence” and “Nonviolence in South Asia.”
15. “Pacifism, Just War and Humanitarian Intervention,” in Barbara Bleisch and Jean-Daniel Strub (eds.), Pazifismus: Ideengeschichte, Theorie und Praxis (Bern, Stuttgart, Wien: Haupt Verlag, 2006), pp. 145-162.
16. “Terrorism,Violence, and Nonviolence,” (Published in Russian translation in Russia, Spring 2006, specifics unavailable at the moment).
17. Addendum to entry on “Peace, War, and Philosophy,” Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd ed., Detroit: Macmillan, 2006.
18. Critical Review of David Rodin, War and Self-Defense, Philosophical Books, Vol. 46, No. 3 July 2005, pp. 254-260.
19. “Pacifism and Weapons of Mass Destruction,” in Sohail H. Hashmi and Steven P. Lee (eds.), Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), pp. 451-470.
20. Memorial notice for Richard Taylor, American Philosophical Association, Proceedings, Vol. 77:5 (May issue), pp. 170-171. Same note appeared in Philosophy Now, No. 4, 2004.
21. Review of Deen Chatterjee and Don Scheid, Ethics and Foreign Intervention (Cambridge University Press, 2003), in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2003.12.07. Online journal.
22. Review of Mark Timmons, Moral Theory: An Introduction (Rowman and Littlefield, 2002), in Philosophical Books, Fall 2003.
23. Review of Glenn D. Paige, Nonkilling Global Political Science (Xlibris Corporation, Philadelphia, 2002), in Fellowship (magazine of the Fellowship of Reconciliation), March/April 2003, pp. 23-24.
24. “A Western Perspective on the Problem of Violence,” The Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, Vol. 11, 1998 Social and Political Philosophy,(ed.) David M. Rasmussen, Boston College, pp. 193-205.
25. “Consequentialism and Its Consequences,” in Essays in Honor of Lewis White Beck, ed. Predrag Cicovacki, University of Rochester Press, 2001, pp. 227-245.
26. “Pacifism for Nonpacifists,” in Jame P. Sterba (ed.) Social and Political Philosophy: Contemporary Perspectives (New York: Routledge, 2001), pp. 391-407 (republication of 1999 article by same title).
27. “How Good Christians Can Be Good Citizens,” Christian History, (invited contributor to special section entitled “What Would Augustine Say?”) 67 (Vol. XIX, No. 3), 2000, pp. 38-39.
28. “St. Augustine and the Just War Theory,” in Gareth B. Matthews (ed.), The Augustinian Tradition (Berkeley: The University of California Press, 1999), pp. 323-345.
29. Entry on “Morality,” Dictionary of Existentialism, ed. Haim Gordon, (Westbrook, CN: Greenwood Press, 1999).
30. "Kantianism," in Mark Timmons (ed.) Conduct & Character: Readings in Moral Theory, 3rd ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1999) (from Chapter 8 of Basic Moral Philosophy, 3rd edition).
31. Forward, Essays by Lewis White Beck: Five Decades as a Philosopher, (ed.) Predrag Cicovacki, (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 1999).
32. “Pacifism for Nonpacifists,” Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol. XXX, No. 3, Winter, 1999, pp. 387-400.
33. Review of Madhuri Sondhi, Modernity, Morality and the Mahatma (Haranand Publications, New Delhi, 1997), The Acorn: Journal of the Gandhi-King Society, Vol. X, No. 1 Fall 1999, pp. 43-45.
34. Review of Jennifer Welchman, Dewey's Ethical Thought (Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 1995) in Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, Fall, 1996, Vol. XXXII, No. 4, pp. 684-689.
35. Review of Just War: Principles and Cases, by Richard J. Regan. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1996, in International Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. XXXVII, No. 4. Dec., 1997, pp. 483-484.
36. ”Pacifizm: Pravonazivot,” Filozofska Istrazivanja, 64, Zagreb (Croatia)1/1997, pp.61-70 (”Pacifism and the Right to Life,” Synthesis Philosophica, Zagreb 1997, Vol. 12 fasc.1, pp. 255-265. English language version published simultaneously).
37. “Beyond Justice and Rights: Competing Israeli and Palestinian Claims,” in Tomis Kapitan (ed.) Philosophical Perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Armonk, NY, London, England: M.E. Sharpe, 1997), pp. 297-309.
38. Review of Ethics, Killing and War by Richard Norman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995 in American Political Science Review, 90.2 (1996), p. 412.
39. "Sexual Harassment and the University," The Monist, October 1996, vol. 79, No. 4, pp. 499-519.
40. Entry, "Justice, Can Both Sides Have?" in An Encyclopedia of War and Ethics, ed. Donald A. Wells (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1996), pp. 252-255.
41. "The Challenge of Nonviolence in Eastern Europe," in Nonviolence and Tolerance in Changing Eastern and Central Europe (Logos Vilnius: The Baltic Institute and the Lithuanian Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, 1996), pp. 119-126. (volume published simultaneously in Lithuanian). This essay also published in 1995 in Reports and Abstracts: From Nonviolent Liberation to Tolerance: The Development of Civil Society in Eastern Central Europe, (Vilnius, 1995), pp. 21-28.
42. “Death Be Not Proud,” The UR Voice, (student publication of the University of Rochester),Vol. 3, Issue 1, 1995, pp. 3, 10.
43. "Morality and Social Good," in Moralnia E Razionalnosta (Morality and Rationality) (tr. into Russian by R. Apresyan), (Moscow: Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1995), pp. 64-79.
44. "The Morality of Nonviolence," Concerned Philosophers for Peace Newsletter, Vol. 15, No. 2, Fall 1995, pp. 5-16 (republication of above article by same title).
45. "University Neutrality and ROTC," in Robert L. Simon (ed.) Neutrality and the Academic Ethic (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1995) (a republication of 1973 article by same title).
46. "Privacy: Philosophical Foundations and Moral Dilemmas" in Pieter Ippel, Guus de Heij and Bart Crouwers (eds.) Privacy Disputed (The Hague: Registratiekamer, 1995), pp. 15-3.
47. "From Lenin to Gandhi," in Arun Gandhi (ed.), World Without Violence: Can Gandhi's Vision Become a Reality?" (New Delhi: Wiley Eastern Limited-New Age International Publishers Limited, 1994), pp. 125-126.
48. "Nonviolence and the Intifada," in Laura Kaplan and Laurence Bove (eds.) In the Eye of the Storm: Philosophers Reflect on Militarism and Regional Conflicts (Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopi, 1995), pp. 209-223.
49. "Bosnia: Resurgent Nationalism and the Need for Nonviolent Responses," Ibid., 293-297. A republication of #55.
50. Five entries (“Pacifism,” “Violence,” “Nonviolence,” “Just War Theory,” “Gandhi”) in The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996). 2nd ed., 1999.
51. "Nenacilia Kak Moralniz Princip," (Nonviolence as a Moral Principle" tr. into Russian by R. G. Apresyan), in Ninacelia: Philosophia Etika Nenacilia (Moskva "Nayuka", 1993), pp. 23-35,a publication of the Institute of Philosophy of Russian Academy of Science (the article is an expanded version of an article published in 1991 by the Philosophical Society of the USSR).
52. "The Challenge of Nonviolence in the New World Order," in James Burk (ed.) The Military in New Times: Adapting Armed Forces to a Turbulent World, Westview Press, 1994. Appears also in second edition of this book entitled The Adaptive Military: Armed Forces in a Turbulent World (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1998), pp. 201-220.
53. "Pacifism and Wartime Innocence: A Response," Social Theory and Practice, Vol. 20, No. 2, Summer 1994, pp. 193-202.
54.. Review of Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination, Fortress Press, Minn., 1992, in Fellowship, Vol. 60, No. 1-2, Jan/Feb. 1994, pp. 24-25.
55. "Bosnia: Resurgent Nationalism and the Need for Nonviolent Responses," in Concerned Philosophers for Peace Newsletter, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Spring 1993), pp. 3-4.
56. Entry on Peace and Nonviolence (tr. into Polish), in Prawda Moralna-Dobro Moralne, Lodz: Wydawnictwo Uniwersystev Lodzkiego, 1993, p. 141 (volume in honor of Polish philosopher Ija Lazari-Powlowskiej).
57. “Can War Be Morally Justified?”, in Jean Bethke Elshtain (ed.), Just War Theory (NY: New York University Press, 1992), pp. 212-215 (republication of chapter in On War and Morality by that same title).
58. Review of Peter Brock, Freedom from Violence: Sectarian Nonresistance from the Middle Ages to the Great War, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991). The International History Review Vol. 14, No. 2 (1992).
59. Review of Peter Brock, Freedom from War: Nonsectarian Pacifism 1814-1914, (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991). Journal of Church and State, 34:1 (1992), pp. 160-162.
60. Review of Theology, Politics, and Peace, ed. G. Runyon, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1989), Critical Review of Books in Religion, Vol. 5, 1993 pp. 455-456.
61. Review note, Janna Thompson, Justice and World Order: A Political Inquiry (New York: Routledge, 1992), Ethics, Vol. 104, No. 1, October 1993, p. 203.
62. "On War and Morality," selections from my book by that title, in Stephen Satis (ed.), Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Moral Issues, 3rd ed., (Sluice Dock, Guildford, CT: The Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc., 1992) pp. 363-371.
63. "Emotivity and Elusiveness in Definitions of Violence," in J. Brady and N. Garver (eds.), Justice, Law and Violence, Temple University Press, 1991, pp. 48-53.
64. "The Morality of Nonviolence," (another version of the immediately preceding) in D. Cady and R. Werner (eds.) Just War, Nonviolence, and Nuclear Deterrence:Philosophers on War and Peace (Wakefield, NH: Longwood Academic, 1991), pp. 131-148.
65. "Nenacilia Kak Moralniz Princip," Etika Nenacilia (Philosofiskoia Obshestvo SSSR, 1991), 23-34 ("Nonviolence as a Moral Principle," in The Ethics of Nonviolence Moscow, The Philosophical Society of the USSR, 1991, Russian translation by R.G. Apresyan).
66. Review of Fernando R. Tesón, Humanitarian Intervention: An Inquiry into Law and Morality, in Law and Philosophy, Vol. 9, No. 3, 1990, pp. 319-324.
67. "Commentary on Stephen Darwall's 'Autonomist Internalism and the Justification of Morals'," (abstract) Nous, Vol. XXIV, No. 2, April 1990, p. 283.
68. "Absolute Violence and the Idea of War," in K. Klein and J. Kunkel (eds.), In the Interest of Peace: A Spectrum of Philosophical Views (Wakefield, NH: Longwood Academic, 1990), pp. 25-31.
69. “The Limited Relevance of Analytical Ethics to the Problems of Bioethics,” The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 15: 1990 pp. 143-159.
70. "The Moral Irrelevance of the Distinction Between Conventional and Nuclear War," in Paul Kurtz (ed.), Building a World Community: Humanism in the 21st Century (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1989), pp. 98-105.
71. "Terrorism and Violence: A Moral Perspective," in K. Klein & J. Kunkel, (eds.), Issues in War & Peace: Philosophical Inquiries, Wolfeboro, NH: Longwood Press, 1989, pp. 115-127.
72. "Progress or Wisdom?" Free Inquiry, Vol. 8, No. 3, Summer 1988, pp. 17,18.
73. "Violence in the Middle East," The Acorn: A Gandhian Review, Vol. III, No. 1, March 1988, pp. 6-7.
74. Review of Alan Ryan (ed.), The Idea of Freedom: Essays in Honour of Isaiah Berlin (Oxford: Oxford University Press), in Nous, Vol. 22, No. 2, June 1988, pp. 297-298.
75. “Children and Health Care Decisionmaking: A Reply to Angela Holder," in L.M. Kopelman and J.C. Moskop, Children and Health Care: Moral and Social Issues (Hingham, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988), pp. 173-180.76. "Consent and Decisional Authority in Children's Health Care Decisionmaking: A Reply to Dan Brock," in L.M. Kopelman and J.C. Moskop, Children and Health Care: Moral and Social Issues (Hingham, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1988), pp. 213-220.
77. Memorial Notice on Richard Taylor, American Philosophical Association Proceedings, Vol. 77:5 (May 2004), 170-71.
78. Review of Sergio Cotta, Why Violence: A Philosophical Interpretation (Gainesville, Fla.: University of Florida Press, 1985), in Journal of Social Philosophy, Vol. XVIII, No. 2, Summer 1987.
79. "Terrorism," The Acorn: A Gandhian Review, Vol. II, No. 2, September 1987, pp. 4-5.
80. Review of Richard De George, The Nature and Limits of Authority, Lawrence; University of Kansas Press, 1985. Ethics, Vol. 97, No. 2, January 1987, pp. 494-495.
81. Review of John Dewey: The Later Works, 1925-1953, Vol. 7: 1932, Ethics, Jo Ann Boydston (ed.), in Transactions of the C.S. Peirce Society: A Quarterly Journal of American Philosophy, Vol. XXIII, No. 1, winter 1987, pp. 135-144.
82. "Ethics Before Profits," in Raziel Abelson & Marie-Louise Friquegnon (eds.), Ethics for Modern Life, 3rd ed. (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987), pp. 288-298 (republication of article #91 below entitled "The Concept of Corporate Responsibility").
83. "Perspectives on Morality and War in American Society: A Symposium," in While Soldiers Fought: War in American Society (Lexington, Mass.: Ginn Press, 1986), Vol. II, pp. 733-797. Produced by the International University Consortium.
84. Review of The Immorality of Limiting Growth, by Edward Walter (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1981), 165pp. In Idealistic Studies, Vol. XIV, No. 2, May 1984, p. 173.
85. "Labelling the Mentally Retarded: A Reply to Lawrence McCullough," L. Kopelman and J.C. Moskop (eds.), Ethics and Mental Retardation, Dordrecht, D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1984, pp. 119-123.
86. “The Sleep of Reason Brings Forth Monsters,” Harvard Magazine, March-April, 1983, pp. 56A-56G.
87. Review of Thomas Regan, Utilitarianism and Co-operation (Oxford, the Clarendon Press, 1980), The Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 36, No. 3, 1983. pp. 729-730.
88. "Frankena on 'Is' and 'Ought'," The Monist, Summer 1981, Vol. 64, No. 3, pp. 394-405.
89. "State-Legitimacy and the Obligation to Obey the Law," Virginia Law Review, Vol. 67, No. 1, February 1981, pp. 133-141.
90. "Royce, Pragmatism and the Egocentric Predicament," Proceedings of the Bicentennial Symposium of Philosophy, 1976, pp. 19-24; republished in Peter Caws (ed.), Two Centuries of American Philosophy (Oxford, Blackwell, 1980).
91. "The Concept of Corporate Responsibility," Tom L. Beauchamp and Norman E. Bowie (eds.), Ethical Theory and Business, 1st ed., Prentice-Hall, 1979, pp. 151-160.
92. Review of New Studies in the Philosophy of John Dewey, Steven M. Cahn, (ed.), in Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, Summer 1978, Vol. XIV, No. 3, pp. 215-219.
93. "Nozick on Anarchism," Political Theory, Vol. 5, No. 2, May 1977, pp. 247-256. Republished in J. Paul (ed.), Reading Nozick, Rowman and Littlefield, 1981.
94. Review of Onora Nell, Acting on Principle: An Essay in Kantian Ethics, Kant Studien, 68, 3, 1977, pp. 369-370.
95. "Philippa Foot on Hypothetical Imperatives," Analysis, Vol. 36, No. 4, June 1976, pp. 199-200.
96. "Is Morality a System of Hypothetical Imperatives?" Analysis Vol. 34, No. 3, January 1974, pp. 96-100.
97. "John Dewey's Social Ethics," The Journal of Value Inquiry, Vol. VII, No. 4, Winter 1973, pp. 274-280.
98. "The Concept of Physical Violence in Moral and Political Affairs," Social Theory and Practice, Vol. 2, No. 4, Fall 1973, pp. 387-408.
99. "On Pacifism," The Monist, October 1973, Vol. 57, No. 4, pp. 489-506.
100. "University Neutrality and ROTC," Ethics, Vol. 83, No. 3, April 1973, pp. 177-195.
101. "Violence and Nonviolence," in J. Shaffer (ed.), Violence, New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1971, pp. 103-135.
102. "Some Conceptions of Analysis in Recent Ethical Theory," Metaphilosophy, Vol. 2, No. 1, January 1971, pp. 1-28.
103. "Kim on Kant's Supreme Principle of Morality," Kant Studien, 61, 3, 1970, pp. 393-96.
104. Review of Absolutism and Relativism in Ethics, by Shia Moser, in Social Science Quarterly, (March 1969), Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 141-142.
105. "Negation and the Logic of Deontic Assertions," Inquiry, Vol. 10 (Spring 1967), pp. 89-95.
106. "John Dewey's Moral Philosophy in Contemporary Perspective," The Review of Metaphysics, XX (September 1966), pp. 42-70.
107. "Moral Stance and Political Action," The Christian Century, (June 1966), pp. 776-777.
108. "Descriptivism, Supervenience, and Universalizability," Journal of Philosophy, LXIII (March 1966), pp. 113-119.
109. "Moral Decision in the Nuclear Age," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, (April 1966), pp. 27-29.
110. "The Development of John Dewey's Ethical Thought," The Monist, 48 (July 1964), pp. 392-406.
111. "The Case Against Ethical Naturalism," Mind, LXXIII (April 1964), pp. 291-95.
112. Review of Morality and Beyond by Paul Tillich, Union Seminary Quarterly Review, XIX (March 1964), pp. 265-267.
113. "On Generalization," Journal of Philosophy, LX (June 1963), pp. 317-323.
114. "Good Reasons in Ethics," Forum, University of Houston Quarterly, III (Winter 1962-63), pp. 28-31.
115. "Ultimate Rules in Ethics: A Reply to Mr. Schon," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. XXI (March 1961), pp. 984-87.
116. "R.M. Hare and the Logic of Value Judgments," The Graduate Journal of Philosophy, Winter, 1960, p. 61.