The Ethics of War & Peace

This course is organized around one question: When--if ever--is war a better option than peace? Can war--given all its inevitable cruelties and injustices--ever be anything besides organized crime? In other words, was Benjamin Franklin right when he said that, "There never was a good war, or a bad peace"? Or was Tacitus on to something when he said that, "A bad peace is worse than war"?

Soviet troops after the fall of Nazi Berlin A victim of a napalm bombing in Vietnam

Is all war a crime? Even war to stop a genocide?

A leading technique of war: mass rape (by Francisco Goya;

Wikimedia Commons)

(Pilfered from the excellent Non Sequitur blog; fair use.)

THE ETHICS OF WAR & PEACE

SYLLABUS

When--if ever--should we prefer war to peace? When--if ever--is war not simply organized crime? Can peace be worse than war? How? Once we are at war, what must we do to fight as morally as we can? This course addresses these questions so as to give students a grasp on the ethics of war and peace. For the whole course is aimed at giving students the resources to give their own full, complete, and well-reasoned answer to one question: can war ever be a better option than peace?

The course divides into four parts. The first part introduces students to the moral dilemmas of war and peace. It considers three cases of such dilemmas: those that arise in deciding whether to resort to war or to keep peace, those that arise while fighting war, and those that arise while a war is ending.

The second part tackles questions about the nature of war and peace, and their overall moral structure. We examine the essential elements, causes, and consequences of both war and peace. We also look at what--if anything--distinguishes the two, and what are their costs and benefits. What is the price of war, even if fought well and justly? What is the price of a bad peace? What are the alternatives to war, in the face of an armed adversary bent on using force to get us to do her will?

We consider the close connections between war and peace and justice and injustice. Given that most of the world's wars since the beginning of modernity have been fought in the poor countries of the world, we give special attention to the nature of war in such countries.

The course's third and longest part shows students what a mainstream course on the ethics of war would be like.

The course should be especially useful to students who have taken or will take courses on political morality, on the causes of war and peace, on transitional justice, on the ethics of violence, or on injustice.

Required Texts

[1] Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations, 4th ed. (New York: Basic Books, 2006)

Recommended References and Background Reading

[1] An Encyclopedia of War and Ethics, ed. Donald A. Wells (Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1996)

[2] The Oxford Handbook of War, ed. Julian Lindley-French and Yves Boyer (Oxford University Press, 2012)

The bulk of this handbook is written by and for "leaders and commanders" of the world's present war machines, so most of the articles focus on how-to-successfully-fight-war questions. Useful guide to the 21st-century view from the command post and the corridors of power of how to fight war.

[3] The Changing Consequences of War, ed. Hew Strachan and Sibylle Scheipers (Oxford University Press, 2011)

This collection focuses on ways in which war has changed since the mid-20th century, on the purpose of war, on the changing identities of combatants and non-combatants, and the role of norms in shaping and regulating war. A handbook of the 21st-century scholarly view of the who, why, and what's-changed of war.

[4] David Cortright, Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas (Cambridge University Press, 2008)

Pretty comprehensive.

[5] Frances Stewart, Valpy FitzGerald, and Associates, War and Underdevelopment, Volume I: The Economic and Social Consequences of Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2001)

It is not sufficiently noticed that most of today's wars and violent conflicts occur within and among poor countries, which combined have about 80% of the world's population. This collection looks at war's costs and benefits, both economic and social, for poor countries in which it occurs.

[6] John Keegan and Richard Holmes, Soldiers: A History of Men in Battle (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1985)

Covers the experience of battle, fighting spirit, casualties, types of soldiers according to the weapons they use, irregular warriors, and commanders.

[7] Wounded: The Legacy of War: Photographs by Bryan Adams (Gottingen: Steidl, 2013)

An extraordinary collection of photographs of British soldiers wounded in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Accompanied by essays by the soldiers reflecting on their wounds and experiences.

[8] The Oxford Handbook of International Law in Armed Conflict, ed. Andrew Clapham and Paola Gaeta (OUP, 2014)

[9] The Ethics of War in Asian Civilizations: A Comparative Perspective, ed. Torkel Brekke (Routledge, 2006)

Session 1. Introduction to the Course. (I) The Central Problem of the Ethics of War and Peace: When, If Ever, Is War a Better Option than Peace? When, If Ever, Is War Anything Besides Organized Crime? (II) Moral Dilemmas of War and Peace. Two Case Studies: (1) An Argument that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Was a Massive War Crime, along with a criticism of pacifism; (2) Arguments for Britain’s Appeasing the Nazis and Declaring War against Them.

Introductory Session

Session 2. The Nature of War and Peace. (1) The Difference between War and Peace. (2) Nature of Modern Warfare: Major Trends and Changes in Techniques; (3) The Nature of Modern Warfare: Its Main Elements; (4) The Functions and Consequences of War: What Does War Do, Good and Bad? (5) The Price of War.

Vasily Vereshchagin, Apotheosis of War (1871)

Vereshchagin, a decorated Russian veteran, dedicated this work

"To all conquerors: past, present, and to come."

Peace and Prosperity, by Elihu Vedder (1896)

From John Singer Sargent, Gassed (1919)

Read on (1): David Keen, "War and Peace: What's the Difference?" International Peacekeeping 7 (2000): 1-22

Read on (2): Quincy Wright, “Fluctuations and Trends,” and “Techniques,” A Study of War, abridged edn. (University of Chicago Press, 1964), pp. 51-76.

Read on (3): Wright, “Manifestations of War,” A Study of War, pp. 8-19.

Read on (4): Wright, “Functions,” A Study of War, pp. 76-87.

Read on (5): Michael Walzer, “The Crime of War,” Just and Unjust Wars, pp. 21-33.

So you’d like to know more…

Franz Fanon, “On Violence,” The Wretched of the Earth, trans. Richard Philcox (New York: Grove Press, 2004 [1963])

Argues that violence against the colonizer is the only way for the colonized to reclaim dignity and self-respect

John Keegan, War and Our World (New York: Vintage, 2001)

W. B. Gallie, “Clausewitz on the Nature of War,” Philosophers of Peace and War, pp. 37-65

W. B. Gallie, “Our Received Idea of War,” Understanding War (London: Routledge, 1991), pp. 29-50

An excellent summary history of the concept of war, of attitudes to war, and of major shifts in its practice in the West from the Renaissance to the Cold War

Azar Gat, “” War in Human Civilization

J. Glenn Gray, “The Enduring Appeals of Battle,” The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle, pp. 25-58

John Keegan and Richard Holmes, "Casualty," Soldiers: A History of Men in Battle, pp. 141-262

Hans Kelsen, "War: Its Concept," Principles of International Law (New York: Rinehart, 1952), pp. 25-33

You could watch on the nature of war:

Lawrence of Arabia (1962), directed by David Lean

The Thin Red Line, directed by Terence Malick (1998)

You could watch on the price of war:

Mother Courage and Her Children, by Bertolt Brecht (1939), translated by Tony Kushner (or just read the play: London: Bloomsbury, 2010)

Platoon (1986), or Born on the Fourth of July (1989), or Heaven & Earth (1993), all directed by Oliver Stone

The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow (2008)

Munich, directed by Stephen Spielberg (2005)

Part I. Justice in Going to War (Jus ad Bellum)

Session 3. When May We Go to War? A Case Study. The National-Interest Answer and the Pacifist Answer

Read first:

Then read: Robert Holmes, On War and Morality or the Tolstoy

Session 4. When May We Go to War? The Jus ad Bellum Answer and the War as Punishment Answer

Read first:

Then read:

So you'd like to know more...

You could read on the status of jus ad bellum in international law

Hans Kelsen, "War: Its Legal Interpretation," and "War (Use of Force) under the Charter of the United Nations," Principles of International Law (New York: Rinehart, 1952), pp. 33-44, 44-63.

Part II. Two Opposing Viewpoints: Realism (All war is amoral) and Pacifism (All war is immoral)

Session 5. On arguments for realism and pacifism

Part III. Justice in Fighting War (Jus in Bello)

Session 6. Principles of Jus in Bello

So you'd like to know more....

You could read on the legal status of jus in bello

Hans Kelsen, "War: Regulation of Its Conduct," Principles of International Law, pp. 64-93.

Session 7. (1) Guerilla War and Insurgency; (2) Asymmetrical Warfare

So you’d like to know more…

You could watch:

The Battle of Algiers, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo (1966)

Back to Bataan, directed by Edward Dmytryk (1945)

Amigo, directed by John Sayles (2010)

You could read:

John Keegan and Richard Holmes, "Irregular," Soldiers: A History of Men in Battle, pp. 241-258. A good short history of irregular warriors--guerrillas, insurgents, partisans--and the regular soldiers tasked with combating them.

Carl Schmitt, Theory of the Partisan, trans. G. L. Ulmen (New York: Telos Press, 2007)

Gian P. Gentile, "Counterinsurgency and War," Oxford Handbook of War, pp. 387-400.

A skeptical history of attempts to bifurcate war into conventional war and irregular war.

Session 8. Civilian Immunity and Collateral Damage

Session 9. Terrorism: by Non-state Actors and by States

Igor Primoratz, “State Terrorism,” in Terrorism: The Philosophical Questions

Session 10. Sieges, Blockades, and Quarantines

Suggested movies to watch:

900 Days: Myth & Reality of the Leningrad Blockade, directed by Jessica Gorter (2011)

Attack on Leningrad, directed by Aleksandr Buravsky (2009)

The Missiles of October, directed by Anthony Page (1974)

Session 11. The Treatment of Prisoners and Reprisals

Walzer, “Prisoners of War: Does the Fight Continue after the Battle?” American Political Science Review 63 (1969): 777-786

So you’d like to know more…

You could watch:

The Bridge on the River Kwai, directed by David Lean (1957)

The Great Escape, directed by John Sturges (1963)

Scorched Earth and the Environment

Part IV. Justice after Fighting War (Jus post Bellum)

Session 12. Surrender, Just Armistices, and Just and Unjust Peace

So you’d like to know more…

You could read:

John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace

Session 13. Responsibility and Purges

Session x. Women and War: When and How Should They Serve, and How Should They Be Treated?

So you’d like to know more…

You could watch:

Libertarias, directed by Vicente Aranda (1996)

You could read:

J. Glenn Gray, “Love: War’s Ally and Foe,” The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle, pp. 59-96

How can you achieve that end, given those means?