PHIL/POLI/PWAD 272.001 – The Ethics of Peace, War, and Defense

Instructor: Yifan Li. This course meets MTWRF 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. via remote synchronous (RS) instruction.

This course addresses the ethical problems of peace, war, and (national) defense. We will begin with a brief overview of some general approaches in ethics (consequentialism, Kantianism, and anti-realism) which are particularly relevant when it comes to the ethics of war. We will then analyze and discuss two approaches to the ethics of war: pacifism and realism. These two positions challenge the idea that there are genuine ethical problems about war from two very different angle. Therefore, we will deal with them together. After that, we will devote the majority of this course to the study of the various ethical problems that arises in different stages of a war and explore proposed answers to them.

The reading for this course include an equal amount of contemporary textbooks and classical texts on the relevant topics, and you are expected to do all of the readings carefully, think about them in relation to your life and our topic, and be prepared to share your thoughts in the classroom. Beyond that, there is no requirement for enrollment in this course; all undergraduate students are welcomed to join.