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

This course is an introduction to some of the moral issues of war and peace. Our focus throughout will be twofold: First, when, and under what conditions, is war morally justified. Second, what actions are morally permissible, and which are morally impermissible, when engaged in a just war. We will start by reading Hobbes’s account of the state of nature wherein man is engaged in a war of all against all. We’ll then look at Michael Walzer’s Just and Unjust War. This text, which canvases the basic issues and complexities of just war theory, will occupy our attention for the majority of the course. Time permitting we will turn to Kant’s Perpetual Peace and modern Democratic Peace Theory.Nate Sharadin’s webpage