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

Instructor: Nolan Whitaker. This course meets MTWRF 1:15 – 2:45 p.m. via remote synchronous (RS) 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. Finally, we will discuss non-violent perspectives in the ethics of peace, war, and defense.