Published
2018-09-21
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Reflections on War Ethics in the Employment of UAVs
Zhaolei GUO
Center for International Strategy and Security, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1788-583X
Yiping ZHENG
Center for International Strategy and Security, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20448/journal.500.2018.53.131.136
Keywords: UAVs, Autonomous weapon, Just war, Distinction, Proportionality.
Abstract
The debate over the ethical justification of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has been growing heated for years with the proliferation use of UAVs. At the center of this debate are the underlying question of war ethics and the concerns of whether UAVs will be able to fully comply with war ethics in future. This article is trying to articulate the relevant precepts and points out some misunderstanding clouding UAVs. After focusing the moral debates based on the basic principles of the just war, this article contends that regulations should respond to the character that UAVs is in incremental development to adjust themselves, rather than ban simply.