PHI 304 The Ethics of War
Killing another human being is universally regarded as one of the most seriously wrongful acts. But most people also acknowledge that there are exceptions to the wrongness of killing, and it is in determining what these exceptions are and why they count as exceptions that some of the most interesting and difficult ethical questions arise. War involves killing, maiming, and destruction on a large-scale. How can war ever be an exception to the general prohibition on killing? Can the resort to war ever be justified, or should we be pacifists? Is military intervention ever justified on humanitarian grounds, or is state sovereignty absolute? Does the permissibility of killing in war change depending on who is in the right, or are all soldiers ‘moral equals’? Does the protection of our loved ones and co-citizens help to justify killing in war? What, if anything, makes it worse to kill civilians than soldiers? This course will explore these and related questions by reading, discussing, and debating classical and contemporary works on the ethics of war.
Prerequisite
PHI 140 or another ethics course is highly recommended.