ABSTRACT
Few activities raise as many moral questions as the activity of war. War is, by its very nature, an exercise in destroying lives and property, usually on a very great scale. Those people who engage in warfare transgress some of our most fundamental moral convictions about the wrongness of taking life and inflicting harm. And, yet, those who perpetrate these transgressions – the soldiers and their political leaders – are often praised as heroes. Children aspire to be soldiers. Parades are held for those returning from conflicts. We honour those who die in combat, and decorate those who show particular courage or skill on the battlefield. Why do we regard killing in war as not only morally permissible, but also morally admirable? How can we explain these apparent exceptions to our usual prohibitions on the inflicting of harm?
