Killing in War

Flashcards on Killing in War lecture notes

Convention of warfare

Related to the strategies which would be used in future wars. These larger considerations might well tip the balance in the other direction.

Immunity of Noncombatants

The immunity of noncombatants is not an independent moral rule but rather a part of a convention which sets up a morally desirable alternative to war.

Distinction

Warfare per se on the one hand, and, on the other hand, international combats which are limited by convention and custom.

Traditional Just War

Traditional just war has two parts, one governing the justice of war (jus ad bellum), the second the ethics of the conduct of war (jus in bello), and views each as independent of the other.

Combatants

Those who fight in a just war are just combatants, while those who fight in a war that is unjust because it lacks a just cause are unjust combatants.

Three foundational tenets of the traditional theory

The principles of jus in bello are independent of those of jus ad bellum, (2) that unjust combatants can abide by the principles of jus in bello and do not act wrongly unless they fail to do so, and (3) that combatants are permissible targets of attack while noncombatants are not.

Innocent

Those who do nothing to lose their right against attack are commonly said to be innocent.

Just Cause

Just cause is an extrapolation into the domain of war of the insistence that one may not seriously harm or kill another person except for certain highly specific reasons, such as to defend oneself or another against an unjust threat of extreme gravity.

Requirement of Proportionality

For an act of war to be permissible, its bad effects must not be out of proportion to its good effects.

Legitimate Target in War

What makes a person a legitimate target in war is moral responsibility for an unjust threat or, more generally, for a wrong that provides a just cause for war.

Moral Liability

It is possible to pose an unjust threat without being liable to attack and possible to be liable to attack without posing an unjust threat, and indeed without posing a threat at all.

Legitimate Target

A person becomes a legitimate target in war by being to some degree morally responsible for an unjust threat, or for a wrong that provides a just cause for war.

Discrimination

Combatants must discriminate between those who are morally responsible for an unjust threat, or for a wrong that provides a just cause, and those who are not.