Objective Morality, Subjective Agents: Justice and Agent-Based Considerations in Self -Defense and War

"Objective considerations of justice can justify self-defense-many already grant this. I argue that subjective considerations are also relevant in justifying self-defense, not merely in excusing wrongful killing. By ""subjective considerations"" I mean agents' epistemic limitations and agents' intentions (considered apart from the causal efficacy of their actions). Subjective considerations help us reach the following significant conclusions: you may sometimes kill when killing is not necessary in the traditional sense; nevertheless, you may not kill an agent who genuinely appears to be attacking you but who is in fact not a threat at all; also, you may sometimes kill an agent to avoid a threat that the agent did not cause provided that the agent did attempt (unsuccessfully) to cause this kind of a threat. These conclusions carry important implications for the ethics of war. For example, combatants act wrongly whenever they kill a certain kind of enemy combatant that is indistinguishable from legitimate targets. Even so, those performing this kind of wrongful killing are possibly excused if defending against aggression."

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Philosophy

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Wampler, Eric

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wallace, James D.

• Philosophy

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3131042

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/87592