Child Soldiers: The Ethical Perspective
- Document number
- 2163
- Date
- 2007
- Title
- Child Soldiers: The Ethical Perspective
- Author/publisher
- Jeff McMahan
- Availability
- View/save PDF version of this document
- Document type(s)
- Research/Study/Analysis,
- Keywords
- Violence, Human rights violation, Crime against humanity, War crime, Armed conflict, Post-conflict situation, Terrorism,
- Summary
- The author handles the following questions as regards child soldiers: Might it be that even though they act wrongly, they are fully exculpated by their nature as children, in conjunction with the conditions in which they act? Can they be seen as morally responsible agents at all? Can they deserve punishment, or blame? Perhaps most importantly, how do the answers to these questions bear on how morally conscientious adult combatants should fight against them? Is there a moral requirement to exercise restraint in fighting them? Should adult combatants, for example, accept greater risks to themselves in order to minimize the harm they inflict on child soldiers?
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