Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Justification and Legitimacy at War: on the Sources of Moral Guidance for Soldiers

Finlay, Christopher J

Justification and Legitimacy at War: on the Sources of Moral Guidance for Soldiers Thumbnail


Authors



Abstract

Attempts to simplify ethics in war by claiming exclusive legitimate authority for the law of armed conflict underestimate the moral complexities facing soldiers. Soldiers risk wrongdoing if they refuse moral guidance that can independently evaluate their legal permissions. State soldiers need to know when to object to a legal duty to fight; nonstate fighters need to know when to disregard legal prohibitions against fighting. And both might sometimes best discharge their moral duties by following a bespoke rule departing from noncombatant immunity in a principled way that has been designed for a particular conflict by an authoritative leadership.

Citation

Finlay, C. J. (2019). Justification and Legitimacy at War: on the Sources of Moral Guidance for Soldiers. Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy, 129(4), 576-602. https://doi.org/10.1086/702973

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 10, 2019
Online Publication Date Jul 31, 2019
Publication Date 2019-07
Deposit Date Jan 14, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Ethics
Print ISSN 0014-1704
Electronic ISSN 1539-297X
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 129
Issue 4
Pages 576-602
DOI https://doi.org/10.1086/702973

Files


Published Journal Article (1.4 Mb)
PDF

Copyright Statement
© 2019 by The University of Chicago.




You might also like



Downloadable Citations