War and Justice (PO0045)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : SPS-3-POWARJU

When can we legitimately go to war? When we are attacked? In order to intervene in the domestic affairs of another country on the grounds that this best serves our national interest? Once we are at war, can we do anything that is necessary to win, or are there moral restrictions on what we can do? For example, can we use nuclear weapons? Can we tortured suspected terrorists? Can we target civilians, in the hope to undermine their government? The course addresses those issues, fron a normative, philosophical perspective.

Entry Requirements

? Special Arrangements for Entry : Special Arrangements for Entry: A quota of 60* students, with preference given in the following order:

(1) International Relations Single Honours 4th year;
(2) Politics Single Honours 4th year;
(3) Politics Joint Honours 4th year;
(4) International Relations Single Honours 3rd year;
(5) Politics Single Honours 3rd year;
(6) Politics Joint Honours 3rd year;
(7) Other SSPS students;
(8) Non-SSPS students

Please note: because of the high numbers of students enrolled, this course will almost certainly not be able to admit students from outside the College of Humanities and Social Science.
*in 08/09

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Politics and International Relations, (School of Social and Political Science, Schedule J)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
24/09/2008	09:00	09:50	Faculty Room South, David Hume Tower	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Wednesday	09:00	09:50	Central

? Additional Class Information : 1 weekly hour long tutorial to be signed up for. The students will be divided into groups. Times and locations will be made available on the webct site and at the first lecture.

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

This course aims to:

* introduce students to key ethical debates in international politics;
* provide a working knowledge of theoretical approaches to the study of war.

Upon successful completion of this course students should be able to:

* critically engage with contemporary debates about international justice;
* identify future directions and challenges in the theory of the just war.

Assessment Information

100% by coursework by means of a 4,000 word essay, +/- 10% (the word count includes footnotes but excludes the bibliography). You must write your essay on one of the questions provided by the course's convenor and listed at the end of the course prospectus. The question for the assessed essay must NOT be the same as the question chosen for the formative (unassessed) essay.

The essay is due on the Friday of week 11, NOON, at the latest. Late submission of essays incurs a late penalty of five marks per working day. If you submit your essay more than 5 working days late without a legitimate reason approved extension then you will automatically be awarded a zero for the essay, and you will therefore fail the course.Please refer to the Politics and Internationals Relations Honours Handbooks if you believe that you have a legitimate reason for submitting your assessed essay late.

Additional guidelines on the assessment are included in the course prospectus.