For this Assignment, you may choose Option A or Option B.
Option A: Compose a letter to the president regarding the current war. In this letter, explain your position regarding the ethics of war and responses to terrorism. In your explanation, be sure to draw upon ethical theories, concepts, and reasoning to support your position. State what you believe should be done and why. The letter should be 1 page in length, double spaced, and free of grammatical errors.
Option B: Compose a letter to your state governor regarding the death penalty. In this letter, explain your position regarding capital punishment. In your explanation, be sure to draw upon ethical theories, concepts, and reasoning to support your position. State whether or not the death penalty should be abolished and why. The letter should be 1 page in length, double spaced, and free of grammatical errors.
Download the Assignment rubric through the Rubric icon below, which provides details for how this Assignment will be graded.
Letter to the President on War
This letter brings to your attention the need to invest heavily in the war against terrorism and other threats posed to the U.S. and its allied countries. The country must continue to invest heavily in strengthening its national security as well as protecting allied countries across the world. The threat of terrorism continues to plague this nation on a daily basis. The state have a duty to protect the citizens from threats posed by terrorists and other enemy groups, even if it involves the use of deadly force to ensure that the citizens are safe. Sometimes, the need to defend the loss of innocent lives in addition to the need to defend critical moral values leaves no other option but to employ deadly force. The Just War theory clearly maintains that a state may enter into war in order to protect innocent lives.
This letter calls for the U.S. government to spruce up its war apparatus in order to ensure that the citizens are safe from any form of attacks. Although Christian philosophy teaches that taking human life is unjustified, sometimes use of deadly force is the only option. From a utilitarian perspective, going to war is justified so long as war is not motivated by selfish gains, but by the interest of the majority of people at heart (Steffen, 2012). Drawing on deontological theory, war is justified if those involved adhere to set rules or duty. In this case, it is the duty of the government to protect its citizens. In addition, soldiers must be ready to make the sacrifice when war is declared since it is their duty to obey higher powers. Virtue ethics also support war against terrorism. According to virtue ethics, war does not fall in the category of eudemonia (Steffen, 2012). However, by virtue of establishing peace through war, it thus falls as part of eudemonia.
Reference
Steffen, L. H. (2012). Ethics and experience: Moral theory from just war to abortion. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
