ABSTRACT
The introduction locates the position of the book within the current debate between broadly traditional and “revisionist” just war theories, points to misconceptions within this debate, and describes the book’s opposition to “moral fundamentalism,” that is, to the view that the laws and customs of war must simply follow an immutable morality, instead of widely accepted laws and customs having moral force and thus providing binding action-guidance themselves. The chapter then provides an overview of the book, which shows that the study takes a point of view that is simultaneously critical of traditional just war theory, Walzerian “orthodoxy,” and “revisionism.” It is emphasized that a way forward, and one providing better practical action-guidance, lies precisely in recognizing the moral force of law.
