Morality, War, and International Law

FAIN: FT-55129-07

David Benjamin Lefkowitz
University of North Carolina, Greensboro (Greensboro, NC 27412-5068)

Receipt of a Summer Stipend will enable me to complete two essays, one on the basis and extent of states’ moral duty to obey international law, and one on the moral status of acts of war that cause collateral damage. The first paper will defend the claim that states often have a moral duty to obey international law against arguments for the contrary view recently made by two prominent theorist-practitioners in the field of international law. The second paper will critique certain traditional justifications for acts of war that cause collateral damage, and offer an alternative moral analysis of such acts. In light of current world events, these essays have immediate practical relevance as well as philosophical import.