ABSTRACT
Contingent pacifism is an emerging moral position towards war and participation in war. First outlined by John Rawls, and subsequently elaborated by Larry May, Andrew Fiala, Saba Bazargan, and others, this position occupies a middle ground between just war theory and more absolute forms of pacifism. Contingent pacifists believe, centrally, that citizens of modern states have decisive moral reasons not to participate in any wars currently in prospect or already underway. These reasons are grounded in contingent, but stable, empirical facts that render all existing and prospective wars presumptively unjust.
