Marc LiVecche is the McDonald Distinguished Scholar of Ethics, War, and Public Life at Providence. He is also a non-resident research fellow at the US Naval War College, in the College of Leadership and Ethics.
Marc completed doctoral studies, earning distinction, at the University of Chicago, where he worked under the supervision of the political theorist and public intellectual Jean Bethke Elshtain, until her death in August, 2013. His first book, The Good Kill: Just War & Moral Injury, was published in 2021 by Oxford University Press. Another project, Responsibility and Restraint: James Turner Johnson and the Just War Tradition, co-edited with Eric Patterson, was published by Stone Tower Press in the fall of 2020. Currently, he is finalizing Moral Horror: A Just War Defense of Hiroshima. Before all this academic stuff, Marc spent twelve years doing a variety of things in Central Europe—ranging from helping build sport and recreational leagues in post-communist communities, to working at a Christian study and research center, to leading seminars on history and ethics onsite at the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi concentration camp in Poland. This latter experience allowed him to continue his undergraduate study of the Shoah; a process which rendered him entirely ill-suited for pacifism.
Marc lives in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and children–and a marmota monax whistlepigging under the shed. He can be followed, or stalked, on twitter @mlivecche. Additional publications can be found at his Amazon author page.
Robert Nicholson and Marc Livecche discuss the unique opportunity presented to Christians in America, to whom much is given, much…
Marc LiVecche & Robert NicholsonSeptember 3, 2019
Last month marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the failed bombing intended to assassinate the German Führer Adolf Hitler at his Wolf’s Lair field headquarters in what is now Gierłoż, Poland. The anniversary offers the opportunity to reflect not only on the nature of courage in dark times, but on the character and limits of Christian resistance to political evil.
Marc LiVeccheAugust 2, 2019
C.S. Lewis, standing in an Augustinian stream, reveals the guidance found in the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian patrimony that has fortified Christian intelligence regarding the use of force since the beginnings of the church.
Marc LiVeccheJuly 26, 2019
Today should be a reminder, especially, perhaps, to Christians, that sometimes fights need to be fought. We worship a God who mandated governments to use the sword to deploy violent action, in the last resort and in measures sufficient to win the fight, when nothing but proportionate and discriminate force will protect the innocent, take back what has been unjustly taken, or punish sufficiently grave evil.
Marc LiVeccheJune 6, 2019
Westminster Abbey recently held a commemorative service to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Royal Navy submariners’ continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent, carrying the Trident nuclear missile system. Some Christian anti-nuclear activists were unhappy.
Marc LiVeccheMay 17, 2019
Scholar and Ethicist Marc Livecche talks with Managing Editor Drew Griffin about Jean Bethke Elshtain, Moral Injury, and how Christian Ethics can save lives.
Marc LiVeccheMay 6, 2019
Cultivating the garden of world order includes tending to the tasks that uphold public safety, execute justice and promote human flourishing.
Marc LiVeccheApril 8, 2019
Among much else, the demise of The Weekly Standard reminds us of the importance of a democratic citizenry armed with the willingness and capacity to engage with great works of history, fiction, art, and philosophy.
Marc LiVeccheDecember 21, 2018
Marc LiVecche is grateful to Amy Fallas for responding to his essay discussing the death of John Allen Chau. But he’s not entirely convinced she’s advanced the conversation all that much. Rather than challenge anything the essay said, LiVecche thinks she has confirmed it.
Marc LiVeccheDecember 14, 2018
John Allen Chau’s martyrdom provokes questions about the role religion plays in relations between peoples and about encounters between the West and developing cultures.
Marc LiVeccheNovember 27, 2018