ABSTRACT
The immunity of civilians, or noncombatants, from deadly violence in war is enjoined by the centerpiece of the jus in bello prong of just war theory, the principle of discrimination. The principle of civilian immunity was considered one of the major achievements of moral progress from early modern times to the Great War, but has been under constant attrition ever since. A strange transformation had occurred in the “innocent civilians” who sat in the cellar while all around them phosphor bombs turned the city into a sea of fire. The consequentialist position on civilian immunity, as on everything else, is quite simple: we should go by consequences, and by consequences only. Civilian immunity ought to be respected, for respecting it has, on balance, good consequences. Civilian immunity is thus made hostage to the vagaries of war, instead of providing civilians with iron-clad protection against them.
