When Is It Right to Fight? Just War Theory and the Individual-Centric Approach

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 16 (1):35-54 (2013)
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Abstract

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.

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James Pattison
University of Manchester

References found in this work

Killing in war.Jeff McMahan - 2009 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Proportionality in the Morality of War.Thomas Hurka - 2004 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 33 (1):34-66.
The ethics of killing in war.Jeff McMahan - 2004 - Ethics 114 (4):693-733.
The responsibility dilemma for killing in war: A review essay.Seth Lazar - 2010 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 38 (2):180-213.

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