Essay
Students are to complete an essay between 500-700 words in response to one of the prompts listed below. While you can go over the word limit, you should ensure that your essay is at least 500 words. Essays that come in well under 500 words may have marks taken off.
The essay is to be a personal piece of writing and does not need to be written in a standard academic form. Students should attempt to relate the issues in question to their own experiences.
Essays will be graded based on the following considerations:
– the students’ ability to identify and summarize central points in the reading in a clear and well-organized manner
– the students’ overall understanding of the material
– the student’s ability to relate the readings to their own experiences and to raise thoughtful questions about the material.
please choose one from the essay prompts
(): Ryan, Pacifism as War Absolitionism, pp. 1-41.
: Ryan, Pacifism as War Absolitionism, pp. 42-69.
Essay Prompts:
(1) Outline the realist view of war (i.e., what does a realist think war is all about?), and they think that the world would be safer and more secure if everyone thought as they do. Do you agree with the realist position on war? Why or why not?
(2) Outline some of the principles of just war theory and discuss why you believe they make for a compelling account of a just war.
(3) One of the common criticisms of just war theory is that it is too dangerous a tool to rely upon because human beings are so self-deceptive. Drawing on our readings, outline some of the ways human beings tend to deceive themselves. Do you agree that our tendency to deceive ourselves makes just war theory too dangerous a tool to rely upon? Why or why not?
(4) One of the issues discussed in just war theory is whether soldiers should be expected to know whether their war is just or not. Drawing on our readings, outline some of the reasons why a soldier should be expected to know whether their war is just or not. Do you agree that they should know and be held responsible for this or not?
(5) It is sometimes argued that the use of lethal armed robots will increase the number of wars in the world. Outline some of the reasons why people believe this. Do you agree that the increased use of lethal armed robots will only increase the number of wars in the world? Why or why not?
(6) Some argue that, in the future, the use of autonomous robots may actually make wars more just. Outline some of the reasons why certain people believe this to be the case. Do you agree with this position? Why or why not?
(7) One of the articles we read raises the question of who should be held responsible for the actions of lethal armed robots during war. Drawing on our robots, outline why it is thought that certain parties should not be held responsible for the actions of lethal armed robots. In your view, who, if anyone, should be held responsible and why?
