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8 - Collateral Damage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

David Lefkowitz
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of North Carolina Greensboro
Larry May
Affiliation:
Washington University, St Louis
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Summary

The phrase “collateral damage” refers to harm done to persons, animals, or things that agents are not morally permitted to target in the conduct of war, as a side effect of attacks on persons, animals, or things that agents are morally permitted to target in the conduct of war. Call the first category – that is, those persons, animals, or things that agents are not morally permitted to target – illegitimate targets of war, and the second category legitimate targets of war. Collateral damage, then, refers to harm done to illegitimate targets of war as a side effect of attacks on legitimate targets of war. As this characterization indicates, a complete response to the question of when, if ever, acts of war that cause collateral damage are morally justifiable must address harm done to private and public property, domestic and wild animals, and the environment. In this essay, however, I will focus solely on harm done to persons who are illegitimate targets of war, as a side effect of attacks on legitimate targets. My reason for doing so is twofold. First, most historical and contemporary discussion focuses on the rightness or wrongness of this particular kind of collateral damage. Second, rightly or wrongly, most people appear to be more concerned with harm done to persons than they are with harm done to animals, the environment, or inanimate objects.

Type
Chapter
Information
War
Essays in Political Philosophy
, pp. 145 - 164
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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  • Collateral Damage
    • By David Lefkowitz, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of North Carolina Greensboro
  • Edited by Larry May, Washington University, St Louis
  • Assisted by Emily Crookston
  • Book: War
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511840982.009
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  • Collateral Damage
    • By David Lefkowitz, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of North Carolina Greensboro
  • Edited by Larry May, Washington University, St Louis
  • Assisted by Emily Crookston
  • Book: War
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511840982.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Collateral Damage
    • By David Lefkowitz, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of North Carolina Greensboro
  • Edited by Larry May, Washington University, St Louis
  • Assisted by Emily Crookston
  • Book: War
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511840982.009
Available formats
×