Pre-Term Seminar

The Ethics of War: Contemporary Challenges to the Just War Tradition

Monday, Jan 15 | 12.30-7.30 | Elm Library

Is it possible for a war to be fought justly or is warfare inherently immoral? Is it even possible to apply traditional rules of war to modern warfare? What is the basis for non-combatant immunity and who counts as a combatant? What does a society owe to those who fight on its behalf? A half-day seminar exploring key ideas from the just war tradition.

Open to all members of the Yale community. Places in this seminar are limited; sign up using the form below. For more information please contact Peter Wicks.

THIS SEMINAR IS CURRENTLY FULL. TO BE ADDED TO THE WAIT LIST, E-MAIL PETER WICKS.

Readings
David Whetham, “The Just War Tradition”
G.E.M. Anscombe, “War and Murder”
Thomas Nagel, “War and Massacre”
G. Scott Davis, “Warcraft and the Fragility of Virtue”
Phil Klay, “Citizen Soldier: Moral Risk and the Modern Military”

Schedule
12.30-1.30 LUNCH
1.30-3.00 The Just War Tradition: An Overview
3.00-3.15 BREAK
3.15-4.30 Killing in War: Noncombatant Immunity
4.30-4.45 BREAK
4.45-6.00 The Just War Tradition and Twenty-First Century Warfare
6.00-7.30 DINNER

Only the dead have seen the end of war.

George Santayana, “Tipperary”