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Morality of War and Peace
Moral von Krieg und Frieden
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:02:08
Abstract
Can a war ever be morally justified?The focus of the seminar is the controversial debate in contemporary philosophical thinking about the moral problem of war, humanitarian intervention, the "new wars", terrorism and targeted killing.
Objective
The learning objective is twofold: the students should get to know the most important traditions of philosophical thinking about the morality of war; and they should learn to interpret philosophical texts, to think through the difficult problems that the texts raise, and to argue for and against the theses that are made explicit in the various approaches. Each participant is asked to choose a specific violent political conflict or war that interests him/her, be it historical or current. The students are given the opportunity to give a short lecture on the problem of moral justification in their concrete example using the philosophical theories discussed in the course.
General Information
- Language
- German
- Levels
- MSC
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Registration & Places
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| seminar | Moral von Krieg und Frieden |
|
2 h weekly |