ABSTRACTThis paper considers the moral justifiability of military conscription. Philosopher James Pattison has developed a theoretical framework for this purpose that he calls the Moderate Instrumentalist Approach, which assesses forms of military recruitment in light of a weighted comparison of three main factors: military effectiveness, democratic control and proper treatment of military personnel. According to Pattison, all-volunteer force systems are morally preferable by comparing better when it comes to these factors than other systems of military recruitment, notably conscription. However, I (...) argue that Pattison fails to evaluate certain hybrid systems, in particular what I call the Nordic Model of Conscription. I show that there are good reasons to think that such a hybrid system compares just as well or even better than an all-volunteer force, making the Nordic Model of Conscription at least as morally justifiable and arguably also morally preferable. (shrink)

Recent work in the ethics of war has done much to challenge the collectivism of the convention-based, Walzerian just war theory. In doing so, it raises the question of when it is permissible for soldiers to resort to force. This article considers this issue and, in doing so, argues that the rejection of collectivism in just war should go further still. More specifically, it defends the ‘Individual-Centric Approach’ to the deep morality of war, which asserts that the justifiability of an (...) individual’s contribution to the war, rather than the justifiability of the war more generally, determines the moral acceptability of their participation. It then goes on to present five implications of the Individual-Centric Approach, including for individual liability to attack in war. (shrink)