Accounting for Self-Defense: Perspective and Responsibility as its Moral Basis

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Chapter 1..: Introduction
Some people, when confronted with the issue for the first time, have an intuitive reaction towards the idea of killing someone, which suggests that any killing is morally wrong. Others, however, especially when having a closer look at the issue, agree that not every killing of another human being is wrong from a moral point of view. Many people have argued against pacifism. But even some pacifists would concur that at least some forms of self-defense are morally permissible. Thus, if we share, on the one hand, the belief that the killing of another human being is to be avoided but, on the other hand, concurrently believe that some forms of self-defense, or perhaps even some wars, are morally justified, then the question arises on where we draw the line between these positions? When is it morally permitted to kill someone? When does a war become a morally "just" one?
Throughout history many people have thought deeply about these questions. The first written documentation of such a treatment is found in the Indian epic Mahabharata in which five ruling brothers ask if the suffering of a war can ever be justified and a long discussion ensues. Concepts such as proportionality (chariots may only attack chariots), just means (no poisoned or barbed arrows), just cause (no attacking due to revenge) and humane treatment of captives and wounded emerged. Ancient Roman writers too have battled with the idea of reconciling ethics and war. The most famous one is Cicero in De Officiis Book 1.
Moreover, in the Christian tradition some famous writers have written thoroughly on the topic of war within a Christian framework, most notably the Ancient theologian St. Augustine as well as the Middle Age Christian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas. It was St. Augustine who in his work The City of God coined the term "just war", a term that has accompanied discussions on the topic even until today. It was Thomas Aquinas who elaborated on the

Daniel James Schuster was born in Linz, Austria, in 1986. He completed his BA studies in Philosophy at the Karl-Franzens University of Graz in 2013. In 2006 / 2007 he was an "Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant" at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial site in Jerusalem for 12 months. For this work he was awarded as "Austrian Servant Abroad of the Year 2007" by invitation of the president of the Austrian parliament, Mag. Barbara Prammer. Through several work and study trips he spent more than two years in China, also learning the Mandarin language. Since 2013 he engages in MA studies at the IDC Herzliya in Israel in Political Science with a focus on comparative studies between Israel and China with regards to their conflict with the Palestinians and Uyghurs. Besides China and Israel he also studied in Australia and has been an ERASMUS MUNDUS student in Azerbaijan.