Violence, War and Terrorism

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2008:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Today, war is still a salient feature of international relations, while terrorism takes on ever more international character and scope. The subject will explore the philosophical'conceptual and moral'issues to do with violence, war, and terrorism. It will consider the concept of violence and the problem of its justification in a political context in general. The central part of the subject will examine the main approaches to war: realism, consequentialism, just war theory, and pacifism, and apply them to the "new wars" of the late twentieth and early twenty first century, which seem to be particularly resistant to moral and legal regulation. The subject will also discuss both the concept and the morality of terrorism, including state terrorism.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• have improved their ability to integrate abstract moral and conceptual considerations with relevant empirical data;
• have developed research and analysis skills to enable further study in the area of international justice at a higher academic level.