Abstract

This study evaluates the dignity argument, which is the argument that using autonomous weapon is a severe threat to human dignity. This study also develops a novel understanding of dignity, thereby supporting this argument from a varying and more convincing perspective. The original dignity argument encounters two criticisms; first, the core concept of ʻdignityʼ is utilized in multiple meanings, creating potential confusion; secondly, the argument does not strongly contribute to opposing the use of autonomous weapons. This is because the argument uses ʻdignityʼ in an individual sense. To avoid these issues, this study proposes ʻdignity as a collective virtueʼ as an alternative understanding. This alternative understanding helps avoid the aforementioned problems and reveals the innate ethical issues of autonomous weapons. It can also illuminate the consequentialist aspects of autonomous weapon usage.