Philosophy of war

The philosophy of war is the area of philosophy devoted to examining issues such as the causes of war, the relationship between war and human nature, and the ethics of war. Certain aspects of the philosophy of war overlap with the philosophy of history, political philosophy, international relations and the philosophy of law.

Works about the philosophy of war

Perhaps the greatest and most influential work in the philosophy of war is Carl von Clausewitz's On War, published in 1832. It combines observations on strategy with questions about human nature and the purpose of war. Clausewitz especially examines the teleology of war: whether war is a means to an end outside itself or whether it can be an end in itself. He concludes that the latter cannot be so, and that war is "politics by different means"; i.e. that war must not exist only for its own sake. It must serve some purpose for the state.

Writing in 1869,

While Sun Tzu's The Art of War (5th century BCE), focuses mostly on weaponry and strategy instead of on philosophy, various commentators have broadened his observations into philosophies applied in situations extending well beyond war itself such as competition or management (see the main Wikipedia article on The Art of War for a discussion of the application of Sun Tzu's philosophy to areas other than war). In the early 16th century, parts of Niccolò Machiavelli's masterpiece The Prince (as well as his Discourses) and parts of Machiavelli's own work titled The Art of War discuss some philosophical points relating to war, though neither book could be said to be a work in the philosophy of war.

Just War Theory

The

The criterion of just authority refers to the determined legality of going to war, and whether the concept of war and the pursuit of it has been legally processed and justified.[3]^[2]

Just cause

Just cause is a justifiable reason that war is the appropriate and necessary response. If war can be avoided, that must be determined first, according to the philosophy of just war theory.^[3][2]

Right intention

To go to war, one must determine if the intentions of doing so are right according to morality. Right intention criterion requires the determination of whether or not a war response is a measurable way to the conflict being acted upon.^[2]

Last resort

War is a last resort response, meaning that if there is a conflict between disagreeing parties, all solutions must be attempted before resorting to war.^[2]

Traditions of thought

Since the philosophy of war is often treated as a subset of another branch of philosophy (for example, political philosophy or the philosophy of law) it would be difficult to define any clear-cut schools of thought in the same sense that, e.g., Existentialism or Objectivism can be described as distinct movements. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy refers to Carl von Clausewitz as "the only (so-called) philosopher of war", implying that he is the only (major) philosophical writer who develops a philosophical system focusing exclusively on war. However, discernible traditions of thought on war have developed over time, so that some writers have been able to distinguish broad categories (if somewhat loosely).

Teleological categories

Anatol Rapoport's introduction to his edition of the J. J. Graham translation of Clausewitz's On War identifies three main teleological traditions in the philosophy of war: the cataclysmic, the eschatological, and the political. (On War, Rapoport's introduction, 13). These are not the only possible teleological philosophies of war, but only three of the most common. As Rapoport says,

To put it metaphorically, in political philosophy war is compared to a game of strategy (like chess); in eschatological philosophy, to a mission or the dénouement of a drama; in cataclysmic philosophy, to a fire or an epidemic.

These do not, of course, exhaust the views of war prevailing at different times and at different places. For example, war has at times been viewed as a pastime or an

Eskimos), as a tenacious custom, destined to die out like slavery, and as a crime

. (On War, Rapoport's introduction, 17)

• The Cataclysmic school of thought, which was espoused by
  Tenakh (Old Testament). As the Tenakh (in certain books) sees war as an ineluctable act of God, so Tolstoy especially emphasizes war as something that befalls man and is in no way under the influence of man's "free will
  ", but is instead the result of irresistible global forces. (On War, Rapoport's introduction 16)
• The Eschatological school of thought sees all wars (or all major wars) as leading to some goal, and asserts that some final conflict will someday resolve the path followed by all wars and result in a massive upheaval of society and a subsequent new society free from war (in varying theories the resulting society may be either a
  Manifest Destiny may also fall under this heading. (On War, Rapoport's introduction, 15) (See main articles for more information: Christian eschatology, Jewish eschatology
  )
• The Political school of thought, of which Clausewitz was a proponent, sees war as a tool of the state. On page 13 Rapoport says,

Clausewitz views war as a rational instrument of national policy. The three words "rational", "instrument" and "national" are the key concepts of his paradigm. In this view, the decision to wage war "ought" to be rational, in the sense that it ought to be based on estimated costs and gains of war. Next, war "ought" to be instrumental, in the sense that it ought to be waged in order to achieve some goal, never for its own sake; and also in the sense that strategy and tactics ought to be directed towards just one end, namely towards victory. Finally, war "ought" to be national, in the sense that its objective should be to advance the interests of a national state and that the entire effort of the nation ought to be mobilized in the service of the military objective.

He later characterizes the philosophy behind the

September 11, 2001 attacks

.

Ethical categories

Another possible system for categorizing different schools of thought on war can be found in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (see external links, below), based on ethics. The SEP describes three major divisions in the ethics of war: the realist, the pacifist, and the just war Theory. In a nutshell:

• Realists will typically hold that systems of
  Hobbes
  may also fall under this category.
• Eugene Victor Debs and others were famous advocates of pacifistic diplomatic
  methods instead of war.
• Aquinas, and Hugo Grotius are among the philosophers who have espoused some form of a just war philosophy. One common just war theory evaluation of war is that war is only justified if 1.) waged in a state or nation's self-defense, or 2.) waged in order to end gross violations of human rights. Political philosopher John Rawls
  advocated these criteria as justification for war.

See also

Absolute war Aggressionism Decisive victory Deterrence theory Just war theory

Marxist explanations of warfare Militarism Military-industrial complex Military science Mutually assured destruction

Peace through strength Pre-emptive war Strategic victory Tactical victory War studies

References

Notes

1. ^ Leer, Genrikh Antonovich (1869). Opyt kritiko-istoricheskogo issledovaniya zakonov isskusstva vedeniya voyny Опыт критико-исторического исследования законов искусства ведения войны [Critico-historical research into the laws of the art of the conduct of war] (in Russian). Nikolayevskaya inzhenernaya akademiya. Saint Petersburg. p. 1,2.
   ISBN 9785458055901. Retrieved 5 September 2022. Voina kak odin iz bystreyshikh i mogushchestvennykh tsivilizatorov narodov. [...] mogushchestvennym dvigatelem yavlyaetsya voyna v dele ulucheniya vnutreeego, nravstennego i material'nogo byta narodov [...]. (War as one of the quickest and most powerful civilizers of peoples. [...]. war emerges as a powerful tool in the matter of improving the internal, moral and material life of peoples [...].{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
   )
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Great Philosophers: Augustine on War". oregonstate.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
3. ^ ^{a b} "Just War Tradition - Christian Research Institute". Christian Research Institute. Retrieved 2018-04-19.

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Bibliography

• Clausewitz, Carl von, On War. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1968. J. J. Graham translation, 1908. Anatol Rapoport, editor. Introduction and notes (c) Anatol Rapoport, 1968

Further reading

• Chanakya, Arthashastra [1], especially Book X "Relating to War". Discusses war along with philosophical/religious observations about sacrifice derived from Vedic scripture.
• ISBN 0-911274-90-1. Describing a philosophy of war from the point of view of the Rosicrucian Fellowship
  .
• political liberalism
  which argues against the Clausewitzian conception of war between wholly autonomous states, seeking to replace it with a conception of a "fair and just" international society of peoples adhering to principles of international law.

External links

• "War" entry by Seth Lazar in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Alexander Moseley. "The Philosophy of War". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.