Collateral Damage

Abstract

So far I have focused on the intentional killing of innocents and non-innocents in the course of terrorist acts. I will now turn to the ethical implications of so-called ‘collateral damage’. When an intended violent act causes unintended harm as a side effect, this harm is frequently referred to as ‘collateral damage’, in particular in the context of military action. Such collateral damage, it is often suggested, is morally less problematic than intended harm. In this chapter, I will argue against this suggestion and show that collateral damage is rarely permissible.