PHIL/POLI/PWAD 272.002 – The Ethics of Peace, War, and Defense

In this course we will explore and evaluate a number of important concepts in the ethics of peace, war, and defense. Specifically, we will look at three paradigmatic approaches to international relations (realism, just war theory, and pacifism) as well as at a number of specific issues, including torture, terrorism, supreme emergency, nuclear proliferation, intervention, and post-war restitution and rebuilding. Throughout the class, we will be reading both historical and contemporary political texts. However, our efforts will not be merely an academic exercise where we will only study what others have thought. Instead, in this course you will be joining in an active and ongoing effort to better understand a world shot through with international conflict and wartime injustice, and how we should act in response to it.

Required text:
Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations (Fourth Edition)
Michael Walzer
ISBN-13: 978-0-465-03707-0