Title

Temporal Indiscriminateness: The Case of Cluster Bombs

Authors

Thomas A. Cavanaugh, University of San FranciscoFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2010

Abstract

This paper argues that the current stock of anti-personnel cluster bombs are temporally indiscriminate, and, therefore, unjust weapons. The paper introduces and explains the idea of temporal indiscriminateness. It argues that to honor non-combatant immunity—in addition to not targeting civilians—one must adequately target combatants. Due to their high dud rate, cluster submunitions fail to target combatants with sufficient temporal accuracy, and, thereby, result in avoidable serious harm to non-combatants. The paper concludes that non-combatant immunity and the principle of discrimination require a moratorium on the use of current cluster munitions.

Comments

Post-print. Article published in Science and Engineering Ethics, (2010) 16:135-145

DOI: 10.1007/s11948-009-9152-3

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com

Recommended Citation

Cavanaugh, Thomas A., "Temporal Indiscriminateness: The Case of Cluster Bombs" (2010). Philosophy. 22.
https://repository.usfca.edu/phil/22