1
Professor Marion Smiley
Department of Philosophy
Brandeis University
Spring 2016
Office:110 Mandel
Phone: 736-2792
email: smiley@brandeis.edu
Philosophy 118/ War and Morality
This course explores a variety of moral questions associated with both war in
general and particular kinds of warfare. How, if at all, does war differ from murder?
Under what conditions can a particular war be justified? Where do we draw the line
between defensive and offensive actions? Can a just war be restricted morally with
respect to its tactics? Is torture ever justified? What is the moral status of “innocents” in
arguments about the justifiability of particular modes of warfare? What, if anything, is
special about terrorism? How, if at all, can we justify the use of drones? How – on what
basis -- can we ascribe responsibility for harm in wartime? Does collective responsibility
for war crimes make sense? Is pacifism a coherent doctrine? a justifiable practice?
While the readings in the course frequently make use of historical examples, they
are squarely in the fields of ethics and political philosophy. So, too, is the course itself.
Learning Goals: to garner a deep understanding of the ethical controversies
associated with both war in general and particular aspects of it; to attain the critical skills
necessary for scrutinizing particular claims made within these controversies; and to
develop analytically tight arguments of one’s own about the ethics of modern warfare.
Course Requirements, Grading, and Workload: Two papers (7-8 pages) and a final
exam. Class attendance is mandatory and participation in class discussions highly
valued. Grading: Each of the three written exercises will be weighted equally with
respect to the final grade. The instructor reserves the right to raise the final grade on the
basis of significant contribution to class discussion and/or improvement in the course.
NOTE: Success in this 4 credit course is based on the expectation that students will spend
a minimum of 9 hours of study time per week in preparation for course exercises.
The following required books can be purchased as the Brandeis University
Bookstore:
Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars.
War and Moral Responsibility, eds, M. Cohen, T. Nagel and T. Scanlon.
Rethinking the Just War Tradition, eds, M. Brough, J. Lango, and
H. van der Linden.
The Morality of War, eds, L. May, E. Rovie, and S. Viner.
The remaining articles for the course, i.e., those not found in the above volumes,
are in a course pack (CP) to be purchased in class or on LATTE.
Note: If you are a student with a disability on record at Brandeis and would like to be
accommodated in the class, please contact me early in the semester.
2
Course Readings
Note: The course follows the readings closely. So please read the following selections by
the dates cited.
Jan. 13: Introduction
Jan. 20: Richard Wasserstrom, “On the Morality of War: A Preliminary Inquiry”
(LATTE);
Brian Orend, “War” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (LATTE).
Jan. 25: Michael Walzer, “Chapter 2/ The Crimes of War”, in Just and Unjust Wars.
Michael Walzer, “WWII: Why Was This War Different?” (CP).
Jan. 27: Michael Walzer, “Self-Defense”, in The Morality of War, eds. May, Rovie and
Viner, pp. 250-260. (Note: If you have a different edition, the
pages might be slightly different from those cited here.)
David Rodin, “War and Self-Defense” in The Morality of War, pp. 261-272.
Paul Woodruff, “Justification or Excuse: Saving Soldiers at the Expense of
Civilians” in The Morality of War, pp. 280-291.
Feb. 1: Michael Walzer, “Chapter 5/ Anticipations” in Just and Unjust Wars.
Neta Crawford, “The Justice of Preemption and Preventive War Doctrine” (CP).
Feb. 3: Jeff McMahan, “ Preventative War and the Killing of the Innocent” (CP);
Jordy Rocheleau, “Preventative War and Lawful Constraints on the Use of Force:
An Argument Against International Vigilantism” (CP).
3
Feb. 8: P. Laberge, “Humanitarian Intervention: Three Ethical Positions” (CP).
Michael Walzer, “Chapter 6/Interventions” in Just and Unjust Wars.(CP).
David Lubin, “Just War and Human Rights” in The Morality of War,
pp. 272- 280.
Feb. 10: Richard Norman, “War, Humanitarian Intervention and Human Rights” (CP).
David Lubin, “The Romance of the Nation State” in The Morality of War,
eds, May, Rovie and Viner, pp. 343-346.
Feb. 22: Fernando Teson, “The Liberal Case for Humanitarian Interventions” in
The Morality of War, pp. 347-359.
Burleigh Wilkins, “Humanitarian Interventions: Some Doubts” in The Morality
of War, pp. 360-367.
Feb. 24: Catherine Lu, “Whose Principles? Whose Institutions? Legitimacy
Challenges for ‘Humanitarian Intervention’ (CP).
Feb. 29: Virginia Held, “Legitimate Authority in Non-State Groups Using Violence”
(CP).
Michael Walzer, “Chapter 11/Guerrilla War” in Just and Unjust Wars.
March 2: Michael Walzer, “Chapter 8/ War’s Means” and “Chapter 9/Noncombatant
Immunity and Military Necessity” in Just and Unjust Wars.
March 7: Joseph Boyle, “Toward Understanding the Principle of Double Effect” in The
Morality of War, pp. 164-173.
Warren Quinn, “Actions, Intentions, and Consequences: The Doctrine of
Double Effect” in The Morality of War, pp. 174-186.
Jonathan Bennett, “Morality and Consequences” in The Morality of War,
pp. 187-192.
March 9:.Thomas Nagel, “War and Massacre” in War and Moral Responsibility, eds,
Cohen, Nagel, and Scanlon, pp. 3-24.
4
March 11: First Papers Due. NOTE: This is a Friday. Please submit your papers in
the Philosophy Department Office.
March 14: Richard Brandt, “Utilitarianism and Rules of War” in War and Moral
Responsibility, pp. 25-45.
March 16: Frederck Kaufman, “Just War Theory and Killing the Innocent” in Rethinking
the Just War Tradition, eds Brough, Lango, and van der Linden, pp. 99-114.
Reuben Brigety and Rachel Stohl, “Just War Theory and Child Soldiers” in
Rethinking the Just War Tradition, pp. 131-148.
March 21: Whitley Kaufman, “Rethinking the Ban on Assassination” in Rethinking
The Just War Tradition, pp. 171-182.
Henry Shue, “Torture” (CP).
March 23: Michael Walzer, “Chapter 12/Terrorism” in Just and Unjust Wars.
Robert Fullwinder, “Understanding Terrorism” in The Morality of War, eds.
May, Rovie and Viner, pp. 305-314.
March 28: Andrew Valls, “Can Terrorism Be Justified?” in The Morality of War,
p. 315-325.
Joseph Boyle, “Just War Doctrine and the Military Response to Terrorism” in
The Morality of War, pp. 326-338.
March 30: David Rodin, “The Ethics of Asymmetric War” (LATTE);
Jeff McMahon, “The Moral Inequality of Soldiers: Why Jus Bello Asymmetry
is Half-Right” (CP);
Christopher Katz, “Fearful Symmetry” (CP).
April 4: D. Brunstetter and M. Braun, “The Implications of Drones in the Just War
Tradition” (CP).
April 6: L. Damrosch, “The Collective Enforcement of International Norms
Through Economic Sanctions” (CP).
A. Pierce, “Just War Principles and Economic Sanctions” (CP).
5
April 11: Sanford Levinson, “Responsibility for Crimes of War” in War and Moral
Responsibility, pp. 104-132.
April 13: Neta Crawford, “Individual and Collective Moral Responsibility for Systematic
Military Atrocity” (CP).
April 18: Richard Noonan, “The Case for Pacifism” (CP).
April 20: Jan Narveson, “Pacifism: A Philosophical Analysis” (CP).
May 2: Conclusions/ Final Paper Due.