Fred ? till vilket pris? ? En studie om etiken kring kärnvapeninnehav

Sammanfattning: This bachelor thesis focuses on the ethics concerning the possession of nuclear weapons seen from a deontological and utilitarian perspective. I have also considered the aspects of International law, the Just-war Theory, and Michael Walzer's Legalist Paradigm. The research question that guides my essay is: Is it possible to ethically justify a country's possession of nuclear arms, which results in direct and indirect threats against other countries? I have chosen to focus my essay on the period of 1945 to 1990, also referred to as the Cold War. I find the bipolar system that existed between the USA and the Soviet Union as a good empirical example, during which the nuclear arms debate constantly took place. The result that my thesis brings is rather ambiguous. Whether it is possible to ethically justify nuclear arms depends greatly on which ethical traditon you bear in mind. My opinion is that it is very hard to justify the possession of nuclear arms from a deontological perspective because the very existense of these weapons threatens the whole of human existence. However, seen from an utilitaristic view, the possession of nuclear weapons may be justified. The cold war has shown us that nuclear deterrence has had the impact of neither conventional nor nuclear war breaking out between the two superpowers.