The Ethics of Self-Defense [Paperback]

The fifteen new essays collected in this volume address questions concerning the ethics of self-defense, most centrally when and to what extent the use of defensive force, especially lethal force, can be justified. Scholarly interest in this topic reflects public concern stemming from controversial cases of the use of force by police, and military force exercised in the name of defending against transnational terrorism. The contributors pay special attention to determining when a threat is liable to defensive harm, though doubts about this emphasis are also raised. The legitimacy of so-called stand your ground policies and laws is also addressed. This volume will be of great interest to readers in moral, political, and legal philosophy.

1. IntroductionChristian Coons and Michael Weber
2. Recipe for a Theory of Self-Defense: The Ingredients, and Some Cooking SuggestionsLarry Alexander
3. The Moral Responsibility Account of Liability to Defensive HarmMichael Otsuka
4. Defensive Liability Without CulpabilitySaba Bazargan
5. Defense of Self and Others Against Culpable Rights ViolatorsPeter Vallentyne
6. Causation, Culpability, and LiabilityVictor Tadors
7. Self-Defense and RisksVera Bergelson
8. The Role of Necessity in Liability to Defensive HarmHelen Frowe
9. Proportionality in DefenseKai Draper
10. The Limits of Self-DefenseJeff McMahan
11. Against Liability: A Reasons-Based Account of Self-DefenseMichelle Madden Dempsey
12. Forfeiture and Self-DefenseKimberly Ferzan
13. Stand Your GroundHeidi Hurd
14. Fight or Flight: Moral Intuitions, Institutions, and the Right to Stand One's GroundIan Fishback
15. Liability and the Ethics of War: A Response to Strawser and McMahanSeth Lazar

Bibliography
Index

Christian Coonsis an Associate Professor ofl³.