Justice and international affairs

The course Justice and International Affairs aims to examine the problem of war from a normative perspective, focusing particularly on the framework of just war theory. This theory seeks to de-termine and explain the normative rules governing the initial resort to war, the conduct of war, and the reconstruction after the war. The primary objective of the course is to develop students' ability to use evaluative language for interpreting and assessing events and actions related to war, which require normative judgment. The central questions explored include: can war be morally justified? Under what conditions? Through a combination of theoretical analysis, presentations, and class discussions, students will learn to critically engage with various normative perspectives and develop their own argumentative abilities.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:
1. Explain the complex philosophical and normative questions surrounding war.
2. Identify and explain the key differences among major normative approaches to judging war, including political realism, pacifism, and just war theory.
3. Critically assess the primary debates within just war theory, including:
- The conditions for the permissible initiation of war (jus ad bellum).
- The moral duties of combatants during war (jus in bello).
- The morality and nature of terrorism.
- The permissibility of torture in extreme circumstances.
- Moral concerns surrounding recent advances in military technology.
- Issues of post-war reconstruction (jus post bellum).
4. Construct and critically evaluate normative arguments by providing well-reasoned justifica-tions for specific normative positions concerning war and its related circumstances.
5. Investigate particular political issues by debating contrasting and opposite theses on the ba-ses of academic articles or with respect to specific cases.