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25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / c. Combatants

[role and ethics of the fighters]

18 ideas
Princes should not justify a war to their subjects, and doing so would undermine the state [Vitoria]
People at home care far more than soldiers risking death about the outcome of wars [Montaigne]
I act justly if I follow my Prince in an apparently unjust war, and refusing to fight would be injustice [Hobbes]
Wars are between States, not people, and the individuals are enemies by accident [Rousseau]
Hiring soldiers is to use them as instruments, ignoring their personal rights [Kant]
Even aggressor soldiers are not criminals, so they have equal rights with their opponents [Walzer]
The duties and moral status of loyal and obedient soldiers is the same in defence and aggression [Walzer]
We can't blame soldiers for anything they do which clearly promotes victory [Walzer]
Rejecting Combatant Equality allows just soldiers to be harsher, even to the extreme [Walzer]
Kidnapped sailors and volunteers have different obligations to the passengers [Walzer]
If all combatants are seen as morally equal, that facilitates starting unjust wars [McMahan]
You don't become a legitimate target, just because you violently resist an unjust attack [McMahan]
Volunteer soldiers accept the risk of attack, but they don't agree to it, or to their deaths [McMahan]
Soldiers cannot know enough facts to evaluate the justice of their war [McMahan]
If being part of a big collective relieves soldiers of moral responsibility, why not the leaders too? [McMahan]
If soldiers can't refuse to fight in unjust wars, can they choose to fight in just wars? [McMahan]
Equality is both sides have permission, or both sides are justified, or one justified the other permitted [McMahan]
Fighting unjustly under duress does not justify it, or permit it, but it may excuse it [McMahan]