Justified Killing: The Paradox of Self-defense

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Rowman & Littlefield, 2009 - Philosophy - 166 pages
The right of self-defense is seemingly at odds with the general presupposition that killing is wrong; numerous theories have been put forth over the years that attempt to explain how self-defense is consistent with such a presupposition. In Justified Killing: The Paradox of Self-Defense, Whitley Kaufman argues that none of the leading theories adequately explains why it is permissible even to kill an innocent attacker in self-defense, given the basic moral prohibition against killing the innocent. Kaufman suggests that such an explanation can be found in the traditional Doctrine of Double Effect, according to which self-defense is justified because the intention of the defender is to protect himself rather than harm the attacker. Given this morally legitimate intention, self-defense is permissible against both culpable and innocent aggressors, so long as the force used is both necessary and proportionate. Justified Killing will intrigue in particular those scholars interested in moral and legal philosophy.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
The Principles of SelfDefense
17
The Leading Theories of SelfDefense
43
The Doctrine of Double Effect
67
Double Effect and Commonsense Morality
89
Can Double Effect Justify SelfDefense?
113
Justifying SelfDefense
137
Bibliography
153
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

Whitley R. P. Kaufman is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.