The Concept of 鈥渢he Human鈥� in the Critique of Autonomous Weapons
The Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism at 平特五不中 presents:听The Ren茅 Cassin lectureship in Human Rights 2022听
With Kevin Jon Heller, moderated by Fr茅d茅ric M茅gret
In-person; the event will also be livecast, find - Masks not required; respect for others鈥� safety requested听
About the talk听
The Concept of 鈥渢he Human鈥� in the Critique of Autonomous Weapons听
Autonomous weapons systems (AWS) 鈥� so-called 鈥渒iller robots鈥� 鈥� are no longer the stuff of science fiction. In Libya, Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and most recently Ukraine, states have used weapons in combat that have an autonomous mode. And it is only a matter of time before AWS become ubiquitous on the battlefield, because the world鈥檚 most powerful states currently devote tens of billions of dollars to developing, manufacturing, and even exporting increasingly sophisticated versions of them.听
As AWS have proliferated, so have calls to prohibit their use. Some objections to AWS are legal, such as the idea that international humanitarian law (IHL) permits only humans to use lethal force. Others are deontological, such as the contention that allowing machines to kill is inconsistent with human dignity. And still others are consequentialist, such as the claim that using AWS will lead to unnecessary civilian casualties because only human soldiers are capable of complying with IHL.听
Despite their differences, all of these critiques emphasise the need for war to remain an exclusively human endeavour. The 鈥渉uman鈥� they imagine, however, is an idealized one: the traditional Enlightenment subject who is rational, self-determining, and capable of self-control. That conception of human subjectivity is contradicted by decades of research into how humans actually make decisions, particularly in dangerous and stressful situations such as armed conflict. As this lecture will show, once we accept humans as they are, not how critics imagine them to be, the case against AWS collapses: war fought with killer robots is likely to be far more 鈥渉umane鈥� than war fought solely by human soldiers.听
About the speaker听
Kevin Jon Heller鈥痠s currently Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Copenhagen鈥檚鈥疌entre for Military Studies and鈥疨rofessor of Law at the Australian National University. His books include鈥�The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law鈥�(OUP, 2011) and four co-edited volumes:鈥�The Handbook of Comparative Criminal Law鈥�(Stanford University Press, 2010),鈥�The Hidden鈥疕istories of War Crimes Trials鈥�(OUP, 2013),鈥�The Oxford Handbook of International Criminal Law鈥�(OUP, 2018), and鈥�Contingency in International Law: On the Possibility of Different Legal Histories鈥�(OUP, 2021). He currently鈥痵erves鈥痑s Special Advisor to the ICC鈥疨rosecutor鈥痮n International Criminal Law Discourse, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Bar Human Rights Association of鈥疎ngland鈥痑nd Wales, and has鈥痓een a member of鈥疧pinio Juris, the world鈥檚 oldest international-law blog, for more than 15 years.鈥�
About the Ren茅 Cassin lectureship听
The Ren茅 Cassin Lectureship is organized by the 平特五不中 Faculty of Law. In 1988, the鈥�Alliance Isr茅alite Universelle鈥痚stablished this Lectureship to mark the centenary of the birth of Ren茅 Cassin, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968. The鈥�Alliance Isr茅alite Universelle鈥痠s one of the oldest and most distinguished human rights organizations, having been founded in Paris in 1860. Ren茅 Cassin was its president from 1943 to 1969.听
The inaugural lecture was delivered by the Hon.鈥疌laire l鈥橦eureux-Dub茅. Other speakers have included the Hon.鈥�Walter Tarnopolsky; Ambassador鈥痀ves Fortier; Minister鈥�Barbara McDougall鈥�(1992); the Hon.鈥疛ules Desch锚nes; Dr.鈥�Bernard Kouchner;鈥痶he Hon.鈥�Louise Arbour; the Right Hon.鈥�Beverley McLachlin; Prof.鈥�Michael Bothe; Prof.鈥�Mireille Delmas-Marty鈥�(2006); Prof.鈥�Jacques Semelin鈥�(2009); Prof.鈥�鈥�(2011); the Hon.鈥�Irwin Cotler鈥�(2013); former president of the Quebec Human Rights Commission鈥�Jacques Fr茅mont鈥�(2015); Prof.鈥�Philippe Sands鈥�(2018).听
All, welcome. Please join us, and please share the announcement widely.
For more information听human.rights [at] mcgill.ca听
