Proportionality in the morality of war books

This chapter discusses the just war theory, or the proportionality of conditions that morally justifies certain acts during a war so. Just war theory has a long history in the western intellectual tradition. Over the past few decades, many authors have written articles and books attempting to construct an apparatus for judging the morality of war. In this carefully argued work, stephen nathanson has brought together two areas, terrorism and the ethics of war, too often treated separately. It is not a merely a religious or intellectual history, but a history that explicitly makes judgments about the distances between the oughts and the actualities xii. Proportionality in the morality of war hurka 2005 philosophy. Duty, obedience, desert, and proportionality in war.

This is a book about theethicsof war, about war in its moral or normative aspect the central question that it addresses is how if at all moral reasoning might be brought to bear upon the activity of war. Delphine hayim posits that the clean war doctrine is progressively supplanting the just war theory as a moral and legal justification for armed conflicts. The book defends existing protections for civilians, proposes new protections for combatants, and interprets vague and ambiguous rules including discrimination, precautions, and proportionality in their morally best light. Proportionality, just war theory, and weapons design. When earlier this month the obama administration released a newly declassified memorandum detailing the u. As civilians suffered and battlefield casualties mounted, clergy on both sides failed to provide a moral critique of the war and instead became champions of patriotism. The prewar consideration of proportionality does not close the book. Disproportionate is the favorite critical term in current discussions of the morality of war.

The right to go to war jus ad bellum the right sorts of conduct in war jus in. The book concludes that, with the ending of the strategic certainties of the cold war, the need for. The question of moral values in war were immanent for him. In chapters 7 and 8 of his volume, gross argues that while the principles of both distinction and proportionality should always. Among other issues, modern laws of war address the declarations of war, acceptance of surrender and. Nuclear weapons seem to violate the just war principle of proportionality. In roman catholic moral theology, the principle of proportionality states that the moral rectitude of an action is a function of the preponderance of human value over disvalue that results through the action. The major moral and tactical practical issues which nuclear missiles pose are the deterrence argument and the principles of proportion and discrimination in relation to a number of the jus in bello just limits on the conduct of war principles of a just war. In the aftermath of the fighting with iraq, two just war principles in particular just cause and proportionality reveal the injustice of the war.

The morality of war and the law of war rutgers university. Pdf proportionality, just war theory and weapons innovation. Coates focuses on the tensions which exist between war and morality. Proportionality, just war theory and weapons innovation proportionality, just war theory and weapons innovation forge, john 20080918 00. Proportionality, just war theory and weapons innovation. T he last two times israel went to war, international commentators criticized the countrys use of force as disproportionate. In debate, although academics believe war is something that should be avoided wherever possible they recognize that sometimes it is a lesser evil for example, the allied forces overthrowing the nazis during world war ii believed nazism had to be stopped. Even if a states cause is just, for the war to be just the good which is at stake must outweigh the evils the war will cause to all sides, combatants and noncombatants.

Jul 02, 1971 similarly, the evil of war is justi fied in certain circumstances. Just war theory refers both to a tradition of thought and to a doctrine that has emerged from that tradition. He said there was a need for proportionality in sentencing. It is often claimed that surveillance should be proportionate, but it is rarely made clear exactly what proportionate surveillance would look like beyond an intuitive sense of an act being excessive. The argument is conducted from a just war standpoint, though the moral ambiguity and. Proportionality in international law by michael newton, larry. Sep 10, 20 the first edition of the morality of war 2006 was pathbreaking in its systematic coverage of the history of moral debates about war and peace in western and nonwestern cultural traditions, integrating thoughtful moral reflection with the major precepts of international humanitarian law pertaining to the declaration, prosecution, and. But behind the singular appeal to proportionality lurks a range of different understandings. Law and morality at war develops a normative framework within which the law of armed conflict should be evaluated, interpreted, and reformed. Proportionality in international law ebook written by michael newton, larry may. The author believes that the most plausible justification for weapons design amounts to the claim that it is needed for the prosecution of a just war.

The last resort criterion has a hallowed place in the just war theory tradition. Drawing on cuttingedge debates in moral philosophy, this work proposes how the laws of war can be evaluated, criticized, and reformed. Augustine provided comments on the morality of war from the. Parts one and two trace the evolution of just war theory, analyzing the principles of jus ad bellum and jus in bello. Augustine provided comments on the morality of war from the christian perspective railing against the love of violence that war can engender as did several arabic commentators in the intellectual flourishing from the 9th to 12th centuries, but the most systematic exposition in the western tradition and one that still attracts.

But killing on a larger scale, organizing numerous people to. Proportionality in the morality of war oxford scholarship. Stephen nathanson argues that we cannot have morally credible views about terrorism if we focus on terrorism alone and neglect broader issues about the ethics of war. Just war theory, the most widely accepted theory of the morality of war, contains two proportionality conditions that say a war or an act in war is justi. The burden of american power in a violent world 3 jean bethke elshtain lays out the case for moral adulthood in contemporary international politics. Proportionality in international law critically assesses the law of proportionality in normative terms combining abstract philosophical and legal analysis with highly emotive contemporary combat cases. This book contrasts the applications of proportionality in both jus ad bellum the law and morality of resort to force and within jus in bello the doctrines applicable for using force in the midst of conflicts. Keith pavlischek on the abuse of an important just war principle. Proportionality is a widely recognized constraint on acts of punishment, acts of self and otherdefense, and acts of war. I argue that surveillance should indeed be proportionate and draw on thomas hurkas work on proportionality in war to inform the debate on surveillance.

On its face, proportionality of response, one of the considerations to be met before war could be justthe others being defense of self or others and at least a reasonable likelihood of successseems out of the question when the method of warfare centers on the exchange of nuclear weapons resulting in hundreds of millions of deaths. Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, occupation, and other critical terms of international law. Wars have so many bad consequences that it is utilitarian to take a whole series of steps short of war before starting war. This book fully instructs on the different aspects of just war theory as well as the manner in which the latter relates to rival approaches to war and peace. Second, if occupations are necessary to achieve a war s purpose, then their expected moral and material costs must be integrated into the proportionality tests of the jus ad bellum hurka 2005. This chapter provides a new account of jus in bello proportionality. There is no one canonical statement of the doctrine but there is a core set of principles that appears, with minor variations, in countless books and articles that discuss the ethics of war in general or the morality of certain. They have the same rights, immunities, and liabilities irrespective of whether their war is just.

Proportionality imposes moral and legal constraints on at least two aspects of the use of force by parties to an armed conflict see war. The law of war refers to the component of international law that regulates the conditions for war jus ad bellum and the conduct of warring parties jus in bello. Michael grosss book moral dilemmas of modern war considers how asymmetric warfarewhich characterizes the u. The principle of proportionality prohibits attacks against military objectives which are expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated. It then explores proportionality in the resort to war and explains why the. Psychological cost of learning to kill in war and society, london. Combatants on all sides in a war have the same moral status. This essay responds to four commentaries on my recently published book, killing in war. It mainly repeats the policies that were released in 20, to include the vastlymorethanwhatthelaw demands requirement of a near certainty that there would be zero civilian deaths in a given strike. She opens her book with a chilling injunction from osama bin laden, in which the al qaeda chieftain calls on every muslim who believes in allah and. Just war theory sets out principles for a war to be ethical. As proportionality is a vital factor in waging moral armed conflict, this is a.

In this second edition, brian orend builds on the substantial strengths of the first, adding important new material on. While common sense morality recognizes constraints on acts of these types that are primarily deontological in character, proportionality is thought to be a constraint that is concerned solely with consequences. Just war theory internet encyclopedia of philosophy. They lift war out of the moral chaos into which it can easily sink. The impact of modern technology on military ethics. It is thorough and comprehensive in its treatment of issues, well researched, well organized, thoughtful, and beautifully written. Thomas hurka search for more papers by this author thomas hurka search for more papers by. When they are properly understood, only proportionality and necessity in the guise of last resort in the jus ad bellum are necessary conditions for a war, or an act in a war, to be permissible, since no matter how badly going to war fails the other ad bellum criteria for example it might still be permissible because it is the least awful of. Hurka, thomas proportionality and the morality of war. Upon the altar of the nation is a provocative and disturbing moral history of the civil war. Thomas hurka, proportionality in the morality of war, 33 phil. Proportionality and necessity in jus in bello oxford handbooks. Just war theory considers the reasons for going to war jus ad bellum and the conduct of war jus in bello.

It defends the view that soldiers ought to disobey an order to fight in a war that lacks a just cause, argues against the contractarian approach to the morality of war, develops an explanation of how the number of people who are harmed by defensive action can affect whether that action is proportionate in. Terrorism and the ethics of war by stephen nathanson. Jun 16, 2006 brian orends the morality of war promises to become the single most comprehensive and important book on just war for this generation. Many leading just war theory scholars accept it as a jus ad bellum requirement and some powerful politicians reference it. Proportionality and the rule of law edited by grant huscroft.

Jun 22, 2011 traditional just war theorists have seldom addressed these issues, but to the extent that they have, they have tended to assume, as i noted, that harms that people are morally liable to suffer do not count in assessments of proportionality. The result is new moral clarity and insight in both areas, especially regarding the moral treatment due to civilians by purveyors of military violence. List of books and articles about ethics of war online. Introduction to western philosophy the ethics of war and. Oxford scholarship online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Thomas hurka proportionality in the morality of war.

The first edition of the morality of war was one of the most widelyread and successful books ever written on the topic. The two sets of questions about how to judge war are built into international and domestic law, and largely mirror how war is debated. During the israelhezbollah war in 2006, officials from the united nations, the european union, and several countries used that word to describe israels military actions in lebanon. Drawing on examples from the history of warfare from the crusades to the present day, the ethics of war explores the limits and possibilities of the moral regulation of war. Proportionality is a critical concept to fighting a just war, if such a thing exists. An attack that inflicts incidental harm on civilians is objectively proportionate only if it prevents opposing forces from inflicting substantially greater harm on attacking forces or civilians in current or future military operations. These conditions have figured prominently in recent debates about. A war might be ethical but the means unethical, for instance, using landmines, torture, chemicals and current debate is concerned with drones. The moral principles related to just war were explored first by augustine in the 4th century, reiterated in the middle ages by thomas aquinas, and expanded by.

The very notion that morality may be applicable to such a destructive enterprise as war will strike some as bizarre, even perhaps as. Just war theory and the last of last resort cambridge core. Augustine identified two aspects of war that required moral justification and guidelines. Proportionality in selfdefense and war political science. Thomas hurka, proportionality in the morality of war philpapers. Proportionality in the morality of war thomas hurka earlier versions of this article were presented to the rice university lecture series on ethics, politics, and society, the university of calgary, the university of toronto, a roundtable on just war theory at the university of illinoisurbana, and the murphy institute series in ethical and. Jan 01, 2005 proportionality in the morality of war hurka, thomas 20050101 00.

Thomas aquinas provided the most celebrated and still discussed the main outlines of just war theory just war theory traditionally has two sets of criteria. The morality of war second edition broadview press. Brian orends the morality of war promises to become the single most comprehensive and important book on just war for this generation. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. While resisting the commonly held view that war is hell, a. Ethics of war arguments as to the ethics or morality of war are as old as war itself. Proportionality in the morality of war researchgate.

Thomas aquinas provided the most celebrated and still discussed the main outlines of just war theory. Rethinking the just war, part 1 the new york times. Proportionality in the morality of war, philosophy and public. First, proportionality is part of jus ad bellum, the moral and legal norms which constrain the initial resort to armed force, as well as the continuation of armed conflict. This second edition of moral constraints on war offers a principlebyprinciple presentation of the transcultural roots of the ethics of war in an age defined by the increasingly international nature of military intervention. In order for a war to be considered just, it must meet most of the criteria of jus ad bellum. Jan 08, 2009 lets talk about proportionalityor, more important, about its negative form. In other words, the principle of proportionality seeks to limit damage caused by military operations by requiring that the effects of the means and methods of warfare used must not be disproportionate to the military advantage sought. The jus in bello, or moral guidelines for conduct in war, consist of three parts. The principle of proportionality is the idea that an action should not be more severe than is necessary, especially in a war or when punishing someone for a crime. These conditions provide the basis of weighing one act of war over the other, in order to determine whether or not the relevant evils or.

These proportionality conditions are generally divided into two categories, the jus ad bellum conditions and the jus in bello conditions, which concern the resort and means to fight the war, respectively. Proportionality conditions just war theory lays down a series of conditions that a war must satisfy to be morally justified. It lacked the discrimination and proportionality that characterize just war. The principle of proportionality permits actions that are logically linked to the intended goal, and thus defines the permissible boundaries for. His book challenges influential views on the ethics of war, including the realist view that morality does not apply to war, and michael walzers defence of attacks on civilians in. One condition is that war must be waged by a legitimate public authority for the common good. The principle of proportionality is the idea that an action should not be more severe. This proportionality principle raises a corresponding interpretation problem. Pdf just wars are supposed to be proportional responses to. The proportionality conditions are actually more important than this initial account suggests, since, if formulated properly, they can incorpo. Adil ahmad haque what are the moral and legal issues of contemporary warfare. This prescribes that the measures of force adopted in the prosecution of a war should not be in excess of what is necessary to achieve the military advantage.

Proportionality definition and meaning collins english. Specifically, the cleanliness of effects is replacing the legality morality of the cause. Losing the moral high ground in todays interconnected world is an invitation for conflict, terrorism, and ruin. Thomas hurka, proportionality in the morality of war. War engages me because of its unique relationship to morality. Augustine commented on the morality of war from a christian perspective, as did several arabic commentators from the 9th to the 12th centuries. Just war, ethics, and terror central intelligence agency. The final guide of jus ad bellum is that the desired end should be proportional to. Proportionality in the morality of war hurka introduction o just war theory, the most widely accepted theory of the morality of war, contains two proportionality conditions that say a war or an act in war is justified only if the damage it causes is not excessive o although this paper attempts to clarify the idea of proportionality in war, it will not formulate simple conditions that can. Use the link below to share a fulltext version of this article with your friends and colleagues.

The following is a speech lew rockwell made at an antiwar rally in birmingham, alabama, sponsored by the alabama peace and justice coalition. Law and morality at war hardcover adil ahmad haque. Killing is often if not always the worst thing that can be done to someone. Proportionality, principle of it is a common sense axiom that there should be a reasonable balance between human activity and its consequences.

Augustine lived in the era when rome had lost its control of the world and was quickly falling to other powers. The author of several books on just war and jihad, johnson says that in the 10th century. Cohen notes in his book arms and judgment 1989 that the law of war requires that. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read proportionality in international law. Thomas hurka 2014 journal of moral philosophy 11 4.