1. Military Robots: Mapping the Moral Landscape [Book Reviews].
- Author
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McFarland, Tim
- Subjects
- *
MILITARY robots , *NONFICTION - Abstract
In this book, the author, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Indo-Pacific Defense at the University of New South Wales and a former officer of the Royal Australian Navy, has presented an account that, happily, refrains from the partisanship too often seen in publications on the topic of military technology and unmanned warfare. Rather, the book stays true to its title by addressing the ethical arguments in favor of using unmanned systems as well as the reasons for caution. Moreover, it goes beyond merely surveying the ethical points for and against unmanned warfare, and reconciles them into a coherent statement that, while unmanned warfare improves on earlier modes of warfare in many ways, it also introduces a range of new problems which point to the need for caution and further research. This is a scholarly work that bases its arguments on ethical theories, which while they are undoubtedly well known to ethicists and academics working in related fields, may be unfamiliar to readers with an interest in unmanned systems. Thankfully, the author takes the time to explain the essential points of the relevant theories in language that is generally clear and free of jargon, and in a way that will be useful to anyone with an interest in military ethics, even beyond discussion of unmanned systems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
- Published
- 2016
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