Synaesthesia

In RR&P, the issue of whether there can be a justified war was brought up. I'm interested in hearing some thoughts on the philosophy of war.

Can it be justified? When? How should it be waged?

frostymama

Depends on what you mean by "just".

I still have a good deal of pacifism lingering from the way I was raised, so I'm probably not the best person to reply. I think war can be necesarry (ex: in cases where mass genocide needs to be stopped), but I personally don't believe that waging war is moral. Sometimes it is simply the lesser of two evils.

JerryM

I don't want to sound like a cultural chauvinist, but I think that the social values which derive from the Western, liberal, Enlightenment tradition--some of which are democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of belief, and equality of all persons under the law--are objectively good values which are worth protecting. And war would be justified against an aggressor who would threaten these values. Still a lot of room for subjective judgements.

Heathen Dawn

A double negative makes a positive, and war against the unjust is just. Intolerant religions (Christianity, Islam) should not be tolerated.

Rusting Car Bumper

Well if someone is marching across our border or the border of an ally it seems reasonable to wage war against that country.

I think there is psychological justifications as well. If X attacks A then it might be reasonable for A to attack X if only to discourage others from thinking A won't respond to attacks and thus detering them.

DC

JerryM

Of course, I agree with you. But we just have to keep in mind the unavoidable subjectivity here. The Taliban would undoubtedly feel that their Islamic state was unjustly attacked by the US and Britain, and that any self-defense, including terrorism is fully justified.

Rusting Car Bumper

Uh.. so what? If there wasn't a difference of opinion or conflict there wouldn't be a war in the first place.

DC

Monkeybot

I'm going to send this excellent discussion to Moral Foundations and Principles.

monkey mind

That's what they said.

JerryM

So I guess you're saying that as long as there is human conflict, there will be war--and each side will find a way to justify it. You may well be
right. So where does that leave us?