Violence, Terrorism & War

Objective: Introduction

¨ Is American society today violent?

¨ What are its causes? How significant are they?

¨ When is violence justifiable (if ever)?

¨ What is terrorism?

¨ How is it different from warfare?

¨ From Guerilla warfare?

¨ Is terrorism ever justifiable

¨ Is any war ever just?

¨ Are there unjust wars?

¨ Why would we make distinctions?

Objective: Violence, Terrorism, Pacifism

¨ Violence – the use of physical force to cause injury

¨ Does violent entertainment beget violence in reality?

¨ Are we ever justified in using violence to obtain our aims?

¨ Terrorism – generally, an attack against civilians to achieve political ends

¨ What are some cases of terrorism in the news?

¨ Is terrorism justifiable?

¨ What if the political authorities refuse to even consider views presented any other way?

¨ What if the people performing the terrorist attacks are themselves persecuted?

¨ Pacifism – the belief that the use of violence is unjustified

¨ Some pacifists hold that all violence is wrong

¨ Others that it is wrong except for self-defense, or to protect the lives of innocents, etc.

¨ Can one defend the view that life is of the highest value, yet force is not justified in defending it?

¨ What kinds of things justify violence in some cases but not in others?

Objective: Just War Theory

¨ Jus ad Bellum

¨ Just Cause

¨ Proportionality

¨ Last Resort

¨ Right Intention

¨ Jus in Bello

¨ Proportionality

¨ Discrimination

¨ Double Effect

Objective: War Crimes & Universal Human Rights

¨ War crimes – crimes against humanity

¨ Has its roots in natural law theory

¨ Can the international community intervene in the internal affairs of a country?

¨ Under what circumstances

¨ Violations of universal human rights?

¨ Which ones?

¨ Are nations themselves an obsolete idea?

Objective: Violence, Terrorism, and Justice; R. G. Frey & Christopher Morris

¨ Good reading on the issues concerned with terrorism

¨ Even if some forms of terrorism have been justifiable in the past, are all forms justifiable

¨ Contemporary terrorism more often attacks those who seem genuinely innocent and uninvolved

¨ Is there a parallel with the concept of nuclear deterrence?

¨ Or the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945?

¨ Were these forms of terrorist attacks, aimed at influencing the political leadership?