Module overview
This module provides an overview of ethical challenges associated with the use of force for political purposes. Drawing on historical and contemporary ideas and information, we consider whether, how and why ethical principles influence strategic and tactical decisions. The module is informed by ongoing research in the Department of Politics and International Relations (PAIR), and it complements other modules that explore global governance, global ethics, foreign and security policy, and military strategy.
Linked modules
Pre-requisite: PAIR1001
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Evaluate and generate ideas for responding ethically to the challenges of potential and ongoing wars
- Demonstrate empirical knowledge and ethical awareness of a range of military practices and technologies
- Identify and explain relationships between ethical principles and the use of force
- Distinguish between, and engage in, deontological and consequentialist modes of ethical reasoning
- Identify, analyse and critique the ethical assumptions underpinning political communities’ military policies and practices
- Critically assess the applicability of Just War principles to past and present conflicts
Syllabus
Drawing on ideas and information from within and beyond the discipline of International Relations, Ethics of War explores three overlapping dimensions of ‘just war’ thinking: ad bellum (going to war), in bello (the conduct of war) and post bellum (the aftermath of war). A series of interactive lectures and group-based tutorials addresses key themes including: moral philosophy and ethical reasoning, pacifist ethics, Just War theory, international law and the use of force, self-defense, humanitarian interventions, non-combatant immunity, nuclear weapons, inhumane and 'non-lethal' weapons, military medical ethics, intelligence-gathering and counter terrorism, torture, post-war justice, drones and robots, space-based war, and military virtue.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Student learning will be achieved through a combination of interactive lectures, group-based tutorial discussions and debates, and independent study. Learning activities and assessment tasks are designed to encourage critical thinking, intellectual autonomy, and evidence-based argument.
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Independent Study | 126 |
Teaching | 24 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Background textbooks. Alex J. Bellamy, Just Wars: From Cicero to Iraq, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2006. Ian Clark, Waging War: A Philosophical Introduction, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. C. A. J. Coady, Morality and Political Violence, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Jean Bethke Elshtain, Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World, New York: Basic Books, 2003. Christian Enemark, Armed Drones and the Ethics of War: Military Virtue in a Post-Heroic Age, London: Routledge, 2014. David Fisher, Morality and War: Can War be Just in the Twenty-First Century?, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Colin S. Gray, ‘Moral Advantage, Strategic Advantage?’, Journal of Strategic Studies 33, no. 3 (2010): 333-65. Steven P. Lee, Ethics and War: An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Brian Orend, The Morality of War, Peterborough: Broadview, 2006. Brian Rappert, Non-Lethal Weapons as Legitimizing Forces? Technology, Politics and the Management of Conflict, London: Frank Cass, 2003. Torbjörn Tännsjö, Understanding Ethics: An Introduction to Moral Theory, 2nd ed., Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008. Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars: a Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations, 4th ed., New York: Basic Books, 2006.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Essay | 60% |
Reflective Journal | 40% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Essay | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External