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Counterfactuals and the Proportionality Criterion [Abstract]

Ethics & International Affairs, Volume 20.4 (Winter 2006)

David Mellow

November 28, 2006

In addition to having a just cause, a resort to war or use of military force must be proportionate in order to be morally justified. In this essay, Mellow argues for the need of a counterfactual baseline with moral qualifiers when making the proportionality evaluation. In defending his proposal, he also contends that the relevant goods and harms that are weighed in the proportionality evaluation are not as open-ended as is sometimes presumed.

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The Carnegie Council's flagship publication, Ethics & International Affairs is an interdisciplinary resource for scholars, students, and policy analysts concerned with the moral dimensions of global issues. The journal covers global justice, civil society, democratization, international law, intervention, sanctions, and related topics.

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