1st Edition

Military Ethics

Edited By C.A.J. Coady, Igor Primoratz Copyright 2008

    Recent developments such as the 'new wars' or the growing privatisation of warfare, and the ever more sophisticated military technology, present the military with difficult ethical challenges. This book offers a selection of the best scholarly articles on military ethics published in recent decades. It gives a hearing to all the main ethical approaches to war: just war theory, consequentialism, and pacifism. Part I includes essays on justice of war (jus ad bellum), focussing on defence against aggression and humanitarian armed intervention, but also addressing topics such as conscientious objection and the relation of patriotism to war. Articles in Part II deal with the central problems of justice in war (jus in bello): civilian immunity and 'collateral damage' to civilian life and property. Essays in Part III look into the moral issues facing the military as a profession, such as the civil - military relations, the responsibilities of officers to their soldiers and to their military superiors, and the status and responsibilities of prisoners of war.

    Contents: Introduction; Part I Can War Be Morally Justified?: On the morality of war: a preliminary inquiry, Richard Wasserstrom; Just war and human rights, David Luban; When is a cause just?, Ian Holliday; Just cause for war, Jeff McMahan; Self-defense, pacifism, and the possibility of killing, Cheyney C. Ryan; Coerced moral agents? Individual responsibility for military service, David R. Mapel; Jus ad bellum and an officer's moral obligations: invincible ignorance, the Constitution, and Iraq, J. Joseph Miller; Objecting morally, C.A.J. Coady; Is patriotism a virtue?, Alasdair MacIntyre; Patriotism and war, John Somerville. Part II Moral Conduct in War: Utilitarianism and the rules of war, R.B. Brandt; Conventions and the morality of war, George I. Mavrodes; War and murder, G.E.M. Anscombe; War and massacre, Thomas Nagel; The killing of the innocent, Jeffrie G. Murphy; Civilian immunity in war, Igor Primoratz; Justification or excuse: saving soldiers at the expense of civilians, Paul Woodruff; Just war criteria and the new face of war: human shields, manufactured martyrs, and little boys with stones, Michael Skerker; Maintaining the protection of non-combatants, James Turner Johnson. Part III The Soldier's Ethics: 2 kinds of military responsibility, Michael Walzer; Prisoners of war: does the fight continue after the battle?, Michael Walzer; The soldier and the state: an analysis of Samuel Huntington's view on military obedience toward political authority, Carl Ceulemans and Guy van Damme; US civil military relations since 9/11: issues in ethics and policy development, Marybeth P. Ulrich and Martin L. Cook; Honor as a motive for making sacrifices, Peter Olsthoorn; Squaring the circle: teaching philosophical ethics in the military, J. Joseph Miller; Mercenary morality, C.A.J. Coady; The good mercenary?, Tony Lynch and A.J. Walsh; Killer robots, Robert Sparrow; Name index.

    Biography

    Professor Anthony Coady is based at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne, Australia and Professor Igor Primoratz is based in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne, Australia.