W czterdzieści lat po publikacji "Wojen sprawiedliwych i niesprawiedliwych" Michaela Walzera. Kilka uwag na temat zasady równego statusu moralnego uczestników działań zbrojnych

Adam Cebula

doi:10.21697/2017.53.3.09

Published: 2019-03-28

Vol. 53 No. 3 (2017)

40 years after Michael Walzer’s “just and unjust wars”. Some remarks on the principle of the moral equality of soldiers

Adam Cebula

Studia Philosophiae Christianae

Section: Papers

https://doi.org/10.21697/2017.53.3.09

Abstract

This article contains a brief analysis of a key assumption of Michael Walzer’s version of just war theory, presented in his main work devoted to the ethics of war. In compliance with the requirement of the author of Just and unjust wars, the controversial nature of the principle of the moral equality of soldiers is exposed through a close analysis of the course of events marking the beginning of World War II – one of the main issues dealt with in Walzer’s book. The exclusion of individual responsibility for taking part in a military operation that finds no moral justification seems to entail a number of consequences that put a heavy burden on Walzer’s overall model of military ethics. In order to maintain the required level of coherence in just war theory one may need to modify Walzer’s principle of the moral equality of soldiers – at least in relation to the participants of the so-called devastating war.

Keywords:

ethics of war, just war, moral equality of soldiers, war propaganda, individual moral responsibility

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Cebula, A. (2019). 40 years after Michael Walzer’s “just and unjust wars”. Some remarks on the principle of the moral equality of soldiers. Studia Philosophiae Christianae, 53(3), 165–185. https://doi.org/10.21697/2017.53.3.09

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