Ethics for Enemies ─ Terror, Torture, and War

Ethics for Enemies comprises three original philosophical essays on torture, terrorism, and war. F. M. Kamm deploys ethical theory in her challenging new treatments of these most controversial practical issues. First she considers the nature of torture and the various occasions on which it could occur, in order to determine why it might be wrong to torture a wrongdoer held captive, even if this were necessary to save his victims. In the second essay she considers what makes terrorism wrong--whether it is the intention to harm civilians, rather than harm to them being 'collateral damage,' or something else--and whether terrorism is always wrong. The third essay discusses whether having a right reason, in the sense of a right intention, is necessary in order for a war to be just. Kamm then examines ways in which the harms of war can be proportional to the achievement of the just cause and other goods that war can bring about, so as to make the declaration of war permissible.

F.M. Kamm is Littauer Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School, and Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University. She is author of Creation and Abortion; Morality, Mortality, Vol 1 and 2; and Intricate Ethics. Kamm has published many articles on normative ethical theory and practical ethics. She has held ACLS, AAUW, NEH, and Guggenheim fellowships and has been a Fellow of the Program in Ethics and the Professions at the Kennedy School, the Center for Human Values at Princeton, and the Center for Advanced Study at Stanford. She is a member of the editorial boards of Philosophy & Public Affairs, Legal Theory, and Utilitas; a member of the steering committee of the Harvard University Program in Ethics and Health; a member of the University Faculty Committee, Safra Center for Ethics; affiliated faculty of Carr Center for Human Rights, and is on the international advisory board of the Uehiro Center for Practical Ethics.