An Ethical Evaluation of Lethal Functions in Autoregulative Weapons Systems

“This book is essential for a critical understanding of the ethical complexities of autonomous weapons systems. As an African Christian theologian, I endorse this work for its critical engagement with theological ethics and technology, offering valuable insights and frameworks for ethical reasoning. This timely and interdisciplinary work is vital for scholars and policymakers addressing the moral challenges posed by modern warfare.”


—Dion A. Forster, professor of public theology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, extraordinary professor of public theology and ethics, Stellenbosch University





“The prospect of lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS)—weapons capable of navigating their environment and applying force to a target without supervision by a human operator—has become a pressing ethical and legal issue. Dr Kunkel’s work elegantly integrates Christian peace ethics with the secular debate on LAWS. She also makes important conceptual observations, rendering the notion of LAWS clearer. This is a stimulating contribution to the debate on emerging technologies and armed conflict.”  


—Alex Leveringhaus, lecturer in political theory, University of Surrey, United Kingdom





"This brilliant work represents a cutting-edge contribution to the theology and ethics of peace and war in addressing the problem of so-called 'autonomous' weapons systems by arguing that they are autoregulative at best. Drawing on the works of Bonhoeffer, Coeckelbergh, Latour, May, Walzer, and current Christian debate, it starts a long-overdue conversation between Continental and Anglo-Saxon discourses of pacifism and just war theory.”


—Torsten Meireis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Stellenbosch University