Ethics of War

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

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.

Study time
Type	Hours
Independent Study	126
Teaching	24
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Textbooks. Resource type: Background textbook Alex J. Bellamy, Just Wars: From Cicero to Iraq, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2006. Resource type: Background textbook Ian Clark, Waging War: A Philosophical Introduction, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990. Resource type: Background textbook C. A. J. Coady, Morality and Political Violence, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Resource type: Background textbook Jean Bethke Elshtain, Just War Against Terror: The Burden of American Power in a Violent World, New York: Basic Books, 2003. Resource type: Background textbook Christian Enemark, Armed Drones and the Ethics of War: Military Virtue in a Post-Heroic Age, London: Routledge, 2014. Resource type: Background textbook David Fisher, Morality and War: Can War be Just in the Twenty-First Century?, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Resource type: Background textbook David Fisher, Morality and War: Can War be Just in the Twenty-First Century?, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Resource type: Background textbook Colin S. Gray, ‘Moral Advantage, Strategic Advantage?’, Journal of Strategic Studies 33, no. 3 (2010): 333-65. Resource type: Background textbook Steven P. Lee, Ethics and War: An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Resource type: Background textbook Brian Orend, The Morality of War, Peterborough: Broadview, 2006. Resource type: Background textbook Brian Rappert, Non-Lethal Weapons as Legitimizing Forces? Technology, Politics and the Management of Conflict, London: Frank Cass, 2003. Resource type: Background textbook Torbjörn Tännsjö, Understanding Ethics: An Introduction to Moral Theory, 2nd ed., Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2008. Resource type: Background textbook 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.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay proposal	10%
Essay	50%
Reflective Journal	40%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External