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The philosophy of war examines war beyond the typical questions of weaponry and strategy, inquiring into such things as the
meaning and etiology of
war, the relationship between war and human nature, and the ethics of war. Certain aspects of
the philosophy of war may overlap with the philosophy of history, political
philosophy and the philosophy of
law.
Works about the philosophy
of war
Perhaps the greatest and most influential work in the philosophy of war is
On War by Carl von
Clausewitz. 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.
Leo Tolstoy's
novel War and
Peace contains frequent philosophical digressions on the
philosophy of war (and broader metaphysical speculations derived from Christianity and from
Tolstoy's observations of the Napoleonic Wars). It was influential on
later thought about war. Tolstoy's Christian-centered philosophy of war
(especially his essays "A Letter to a Hindu" and "The
Kingdom of God is Within You") was a direct influence on Gandhi's Hinduism-centered non-violent resistance philosophy.
Sun Tzu wrote a book
titled The Art
of War, however its focus is mostly on weaponry and
strategy instead of philosophy. Sun Tzu's observations are often
broadened into a philosophy applied in situations extending well
beyond war itself (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). Parts of Niccolò Machiavelli's masterpiece
The Prince
(as well as Discourses) and parts of his
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
The film Apocalypse Now (an adaptation of Heart of
Darkness) also contains a considerable amount of commentary on
the philosophy of warfare, brutality, and human nature. The commentary
is largely manifested in the dialogues between Colonel Kurtz and
Captain Willard, but there are also more subtle statements about
war in the behavior and philosophy of Colonel Kilgore.
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 is "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 adventure, as the only
proper occupation for a nobleman, as an affair of honor (for example, the days
of chivalry), as a ceremony (e.g. among the Aztecs), as
an outlet of aggressive instincts or a manifestation of a "death
wish", as nature's way of
ensuring the survival of the fittest, as an
absurdity (e.g. among 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 Leo
Tolstoy in his epic novel War and Peace, sees war as a bane on
humanity – whether avoidable or inevitable – which serves little
purpose outside of causing destruction and suffering, and which may
cause drastic change to society, but not in any teleological sense.
Tolstoy's view may be placed under the subcategory of global
cataclysmic philosophy of war. Another subcategory of the
cataclysmic school of thought is the ethnocentric
cataclysmic, in which this view is focused specifically on the
plight of a specific ethnicity or nation, for example the view in Judaism of war as a punishment from God on the Israelites in certain books of the 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 utopia
or a dystopia). There are
two subsets of this view: the Messianic and the Global theory. The
Marxist
concept of a communist world ruled by the proletariat after a
final worldwide revolution is an example of the global
theory, and the Christian concept of an Armageddon war which will usher in the second coming of Christ and the final defeat of Satan is an example of a theory that could fall
under Global or Messianic. (On War, Rapoport's
introduction, 15) The messianic eschatological philosophy is
derived from the Jewish-Christian concept of a Messiah, and sees wars as culminating in
unification of humanity under a single faith or a single ruler. Crusades, Jihads, the Nazi concept of a Master Race and the
19th century American concept of 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 Vietnam War and other
Cold War conflicts as
"Neo-Clausewitzian". Rapoport also includes Machiavelli as an early
example of the political philosophy of war (On War,
Rapoport's introduction, 13). Decades after his essay, the War on
Terrorism and the Iraq War
begun by the United
States under President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003 have
often been justified under the doctrine of
preemption, a political motivation stating that the United
States must use war to prevent further attacks such as 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
morals and
ethics which guide individuals within societies cannot
realistically be applied to societies as a whole to govern the way
they, as societies, interact with other societies. Hence, a state's
purposes in war is simply to preserve its national interest. This
kind of thinking is similar to Machiavelli's philosophy, and Thucydides and Hobbes may
also fall under this category.
- Just War Theory, along with
pacifism, holds that morals do apply to war. However, unlike
pacifism, according to Just War Theory it is possible for
a war to be morally justified. The concept of a morally justified
war underlies much of the concept International
Law, such as the Geneva Conventions. Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, 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
References
- 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
- Heindel, Max,
The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions and Answers - Volume
II (The Philosophy of War,
World War I reference, ed. 1918), ISBN 0-911274-90-1.
Describing a philosophy of war from the point of view of Rosicrucian beliefs.
- Rawls, John,
The
Law of Peoples. A discussion of international
law in the context of 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.
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