Today we talk about the ethics of war. Are there any ethical rules for wars, or are soldiers allowed to do whatever they want on the battlefield? How can attacks like that of Russia on Ukraine be justified? And do other countries have a moral obligation to come to Ukraine’s assistance? Read on to find out!

Dear friends of Daily Philosophy,

Welcome back! Last week in the premium newsletter, we had the first of a series of four posts on whether humanity might have a future in the oceans. In case you missed it, it is here:

Daily Philosophy

Colonising the Oceans: Visions #177 (P)

Since Jules Verne, visionaries have dreamt of a life on (or under) the Seas. But is it likely that we will ever live in underwater cities? Here are some of the most amazing and audacious underwater city concepts. Dear friends of Daily Philosophy, this post comes a bit later than usual because it required quite a bit of research over the weekend. Sorry abo…

4 months ago · Dr Andreas Matthias

That one was (exceptionally) available for free, so have a look, and if you like it, please subscribe so that you don’t miss the next three parts of the series!

Back to our weekly article! Everyone is talking about the war in Ukraine right now, and I feel that, as philosophers, we also have something to contribute to the discussion.

So let us today talk about the ethics of war.

What are the moral rules for war, how can wars be justified and are we obliged to help a country that has been attacked?

Are there any ethical rules for wars?

One might think that perhaps wars don’t really obey any rules. Since the expected behaviour in a war is that people shoot with the intention to kill each other, what rules could there be that they would be likely to obey?

But it turns out that we do distinguish between good (relatively speaking) and bad behaviour, even in war situations. Killing an armed enemy soldier in order to save one’s own life will not be as bad, morally speaking, as bombing a school full of children or a hospital. Killing a soldier in war might not generally be seen as equally bad as murdering someone at peacetime. But there are also behaviours that we would recognise as “war crimes,” that is, behaviour that even in the context of war should be considered a crime. So how do we know which behaviours are relatively better or worse in a war situation?

One crucial question is: do we believe that wars are really totally different from everyday life, so that killing in a war obeys radically different rules than killing in peace? Or do we see a war just as one more kind of human behaviour (like, say, working or mating)? If this is the case, then we would try to argue that, in principle, the same kinds of moral rules should apply to wars that also apply to everyday life at peacetime.

Daily Philosophy

The Ukraine Conflict and the Ethics of War…

Comments on this episode are for paid subscribers