Ethics of Peace, War, and Defense (PHIL 272/002)

War is clearly a great evil, but at least for now, is also a prominent feature of our human condition. This course introduces the moral problems we find in waging war and seeking peace. We will explore realism (the view that it is not appropriate to evaluate international conflict in moral terms), pacifism (a family of claims that share a strict moral prohibition of military violence), the Just War framework (which attempts to regulate warfare in moral terms), and several special topics in military ethics. Course materials include two texts (one widely read and influential book first published in the 1970s, Walzer’s Just and Unjust Wars and one brand new title, Rhodes’s An Introduction to Military Ethics), articles and handouts, and several documentary videos. Grading will be based primarily on two 5-8 page papers and two exams (a mid-term and a final).

The course is cross-listed with POLI 272.002 and PWAD 272.002.

Carl Ficarrotta’s webpage