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

Instructor: Devin Lane. This course meets MTWRF 1:15 – 2:45 p.m. in CW 105 via in-person (IP) instruction.

This course will investigate the ethics of war from several different angles. Firstly, we will address the question of what conditions, if any, justify states in resorting to war. Secondly, we will address the question of what sort of conduct is permissible in the context of war. Killing, for instance, is an action we take to be morally impermissible in other contexts, but (perhaps) permissible in the context of war. What explains this difference in moral status? We will also consider topics like terrorism, drone strikes, economic sanctions, etc. Time permitting, we will look to some other questions about the ethics of war as well. We might consider what responsibilities are generated for states that engage in warfare after war has ended. And we might also consider the responsibilities (in a least a couple of senses of the term) of the citizens of states which engage in war.