Citizen Killings: Liberalism, State Policy and Moral Risk

Description

This book offers a systematic approach to formulating ethical public policy on all forms of ‘citizen killings’ (i.e. killings carried out by citizens who are not agents of the state), which include killing in self-defence, abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, euthanasia and killings carried out by private military contractors and so-called ‘foreign fighters’. Where most approaches to these issues begin with the assumptions of some or other general approach to ethics, the central argument of this book is that life-or-death policy decisions of this kind should be driven first and foremost by a recognition of the key limitations that a commitment to political liberalism places on the state, particularly the requirement to respect citizens’ right to life and the principle of liberal neutrality. Where these principles come into tension Baker shows that they can in some cases be defused by way of a reasonableness test, and in other cases addressed through the application of what he calls the ‘risk of harm principle’. The book also explores the question of what measures citizens and other states might legitimately take in response to states that fail to implement morally appropriate policies regarding citizen killings. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Introduction Two fundamentals and the nature of risk First fundamental: the social contract and the right to life Second fundamental: liberal neutrality 1 Self-defense and gun bans Gun ownership and risk Gun ownership and self-defense Gun ownership and the state Conclusion 2 Contracted combatants and foreign fighters Contracted combatants, foreign fi ghters and the moral limits of state power Conclusion 3 Assisted suicide, euthanasia and brain death Assisted suicide and euthanasia Public policy and brain death Conclusion 4 Abortion and infanticide Abortion, infanticide, liberal neutrality and moral risk Non-abortion and humanitarian conscription: general similarities and differences Humanitarian conscription Non-abortion as humanitarian conscription Conclusion 5 Citizen killings, civil disobedience and armed rebellion Elective abortion and civil disobedience Abortion and rebellion Conclusion 6 Citizen killings and humanitarian intervention Framing the issue The principles of humanitarian intervention The war of 2080 Just cause Proper authority Proportionality Conclusion Concluding thoughts Appendix What about killing animals? NOTES INDEX