New Book by Frances Kamm

July 5, 2011
New Book by Frances Kamm

June 30, 2011: Oxford University Press published a book by Professor Frances Kamm entitled Ethics for Enemies: Terror, Torture, and War. The book is based on three Uehiro Lectures given by Professor Kamm at Oxford University in 2008. The lectures were sponsored by the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.

"Ethics for Enemies comprises three original philosophical essays on torture, terrorism, and war. F. M. Kamm deploys ethical theory in her challenging new treatments of these most controversial practical issues. First she considers the nature of torture and the various occasions on which it could occur, in order to determine why it might be wrong to torture a wrongdoer held captive, even if this were necessary to save his victims. In the second essay she considers what makes terrorism wrong--whether it is the intention to harm civilians, rather than harm to them being 'collateral damage,' or something else--and whether terrorism is always wrong. The third essay discusses whether having a right reason, in the sense of a right intention, is necessary in order for a war to be just. Kamm then examines ways in which the harms of war can be proportional to the achievement of the just cause and other goods that war can bring about, so as to make the declaration of war permissible." Read more.

See also: Frances Kamm