On the Role of Knowledge and Uncertainty in the Ethics of War

Abstract

In this thesis, I will argue that considerations of risk exposure do not lexically outweigh considerations of fairness, rights, and solidarity in certain scenarios found in warfare. These scenarios require actors to make decisions in states of either incomplete or extremely detailed knowledge about the consequences of their actions. I will first address the impact of the advent of drones on battlefield decision-making, and I will offer a case from the 2015 film “Eye in the Sky” to illustrate the importance of distributing epistemic risk in decisions having an impact on statistical vs. identified lives. Then, I will offer a historical case from World War II to argue that rights considerations can and do outweigh considerations of minimizing casualties. Finally, I will address the curious case of “No Man Left Behind” rules in the military using a historical case from the Global War on Terror, and explore whether justifying reasons for our intuitions in these cases exist. I will conclude in each case that we do in fact have justifying reasons for taking into account considerations other than straightforward calculations of risk and expected casualties.