The Ethics of War
Just War Theory
So far, we have been talking about self-defense in ordinary life. This is interesting both in its own right, and in how it applies to other moral questions. The topic to which it has been most applied is the question of when and how it is morally permissible to go to war and to engage in warfare. This is the topic covered by what has come to be known as just war theory.
Orthodox Just War Theory and its Critics
For our purposes, we will follow Frowe and the Hi-Phi Nation podcast in dividing up Just War Theory into two very rough camps: philosophers who accept a set of traditional or orthodox ideas about when and how it is permissible to engage in war, and those who have come to criticize this set of ideas - the critics. The most prominent proponent of orthodox just war theory is Michael Walzer, an emeritus (that is, retired) professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
The most prominent critic of orthodox just war theory, in contrast, is Jeff McMahan, the White's Professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford University (the oldest and most distinguished endowed professorship in ethics in the world). We've already encountered him in Unit 3 as the proponent of the Responsibility theory of self-defense, which came up in the first Frowe reading and which we've discussed in class.
This debate, between orthodox just war theorists and their critics, is quite lively and current. Among the many prominent contributors are Helen Frowe and USC's own Jonathan Quong. Renee Bolinger is also working actively on this topic.
Areas of Disagreement
It turns out that orthodox just war theorists and their critics disagree about a number of related things about what it is permissible to do in war and why. As you read the chapters from Frowe and listen to the Hi-Phi Nation podcast, try to make a list of things that the two camps disagree about. Many of these disagreements turn on what the members of these camps believe about permissible self-defense, and how they apply the theory of self-defense to the case of war. But that is not all that the two camps disagree about.
The Reading
The reading for today's class (class 9.1) is chapter 2 of Helen Frowe's textbook, The Ethics of War and Peace. Officially, chapter 6 is the reading for our next class (class 9.2), but you may benefit from reading them together before today's class.
The Listening
The Listening for Monday's class is another Hi-Phi Nation podcast episode, this one on the topic of just war theory. In the podcast, you will hear from Helen Frowe, Jeff McMahan, some of the same former soldiers who appeared in last week's podcast, and some of the professors who teach the ethics of war at West Point. My advice is to try to read the chapter first, then listen to the podcast, and the re-read the chapter. You will get the most out of it this way. But if you are not up for reading the chapter twice, you will probably get more out of reading the chapter if you listen to the podcast first, since it will help you be aware of what ideas to watch out for.
Click here for additional supplementary materials on this episode, including a full transcript.