Killing in War

The dominant view throughout history has been that mere participation in an unjust war is not wrong. Soldiers are not to blame for the unjustness of the military actions into which their leaders throw them. The principles governing what is permissible in war apply equally to any combatants.Jeff McMahan argues powerfully that this dominant view must be overturned. Combatants who fight for an unjust cause are acting wrongly and are themselves morally responsible for their own wrongdoings. If a soldier fighting for an unjust cause kills an opposing soldier, he is killing an innocent person and is morally responsible for that killing.This is a highly controversial view, which threatens to undermine the moral standing of military personnel in many contexts around the world today. McMahan shows that the view is nevertheless one which common sense can see to be demanded by our basic moral intuitions. We must rethink our attitudes to the moral role of the individual in war.