Science Explorer Interactive view Map
Topic · Philosophy

War, Ethics, and Justification

War, Ethics, and Justification is a research topic within Philosophy. Science Explorer counts 9.2k research works in it since 1950. 23.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the ethical considerations surrounding just war theory, self-defense, proportionality in warfare, terrorism, preventive war, and the moral responsibilities of combatants. It delves into topics such as the morality of killing in war, the principles of self-defense, and the ethical implications of humanitarian intervention.

  • Just War Theory
  • Ethics
  • Self-Defense
  • Proportionality
  • Terrorism
  • Morality
  • Responsibility
  • Preventive War
  • Combatants
  • Humanitarian Intervention
Research works
9.2k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
23.6%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+18%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead War, Ethics, and Justification research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (456 and 186 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 456 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 186 works
  3. 3 Germany 132 works
  4. 4 China 59 works
  5. 5 Türkiye 49 works
  6. 6 India 47 works
  7. 7 Poland 45 works
  8. 8 Netherlands 44 works
  9. 9 Australia 43 works
  10. 10 Canada 41 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 41.4%United Kingdom: 16.9%Germany: 12.0%China: 5.4%6 others listed: 24.4%41%largest
United States456 · 41.4%United Kingdom186 · 16.9%Germany132 · 12.0%China59 · 5.4%6 others listed269 · 24.4%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead War, Ethics, and Justification research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of Oxford publishes the most War, Ethics, and Justification research, followed by King's College London and University of St Andrews.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of Oxford United Kingdom 19 works
  2. 2 King's College London United Kingdom 12 works
  3. 3 University of St Andrews United Kingdom 10 works
  4. 4 University of Manchester United Kingdom 8 works
  5. 5 Stockholm University Sweden 7 works
  6. 6 University of Notre Dame United States 7 works
  7. 7 University of Cambridge United Kingdom 7 works
  8. 8 University of Haifa Israel 7 works
  9. 9 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München Germany 7 works
  10. 10 Princeton University United States 7 works

Who are the leading researchers in War, Ethics, and Justification?

The most-cited researchers publishing on War, Ethics, and Justification include Johan Galtung.

  1. 1 Johan Galtung 2.3k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is War, Ethics, and Justification research done?

The largest centres of War, Ethics, and Justification research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Oxford (United Kingdom), Beijing (China) and Washington D.C. (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Oxford.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 40 works
  2. 2 Oxford United Kingdom 21 works
  3. 3 Beijing China 18 works
  4. 4 Washington D.C. United States 18 works
  5. 5 New York United States 16 works
  6. 6 Berlin Germany 16 works
  7. 7 Los Angeles United States 15 works
  8. 8 Warsaw Poland 14 works
  9. 9 Moscow Russia 14 works
  10. 10 Munich Germany 12 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. OxfordGB · 21.5 works7.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in War, Ethics, and Justification than the world average.

See War, Ethics, and Justification on the map

Where is the best place to study War, Ethics, and Justification?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Oxford, King's College London and University of St Andrews score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 29.275%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Oxford: 18, 42.1%King's College London: 12, 21.8%University of St Andrews: 10, 24.9%University of Manchester: 8, 28.3%University of OxfordUniversity of Manche…University of St And…King's College London
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of Oxford United Kingdom 97.042.1%9.6×18 +31.3%
2King's College London United Kingdom 51.821.8%10.6×12 +18.9%
3University of St Andrews United Kingdom 39.424.9%31.5×10 -0.5%
4University of Manchester United Kingdom 16.928.3%6.9×8 -11.1%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is War, Ethics, and Justification research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 18% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2023. The fastest-growing topics are War, Ethics, and Justification.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.