War: essays in political philosophy

Larry May978-0-511-39873-5, 978-0-521-70004-7

War has been a key topic of speculation and theorizing ever since the invention of philosophy in classical antiquity. This anthology brings together the work of distinguished contemporary political philosophers and theorists who address the leading normative and conceptual issues concerning war. The book is divided into four parts: historical background, initiating war, waging war, and ending war. The contributors aim to provide a comprehensive introduction to each of these main areas of dispute concerning war. Each essay is an original contribution to ongoing debates on various aspects of war and provides a survey of the main topics in each subfield. Serving as a companion to the theoretical issues pertaining to war, this volume also is an important contribution to debates in political philosophy. It can serve as a textbook for relevant courses on war offered in philosophy departments, religious studies programs, and law schools.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Half-title……Page 3
Title……Page 5
Copyright……Page 6
Contents……Page 7
Contributors……Page 9
Introduction……Page 13
One Historical Background……Page 21
1
Jus ad Bellum……Page 23
I Between Pacifism and Realism……Page 24
II Just Cause and Regular War……Page 28
III Simultaneous Ostensible Justice……Page 30
IV Hard Cases……Page 32
V Justifying versus Merely Persuasive Causes of War……Page 33
VI Defensive War……Page 34
VII Preventive War……Page 37
VIII. Offensive War: Recuperation and Punishment……Page 39
2 The Jus in Bello in Historical and Philosophical Perspective……Page 42
I The Just War Tradition and the Jus in Bello……Page 45
A The Early Modern Jus in Bello……Page 47
B From Jus Gentium to the Laws of War……Page 51
II. The Jus in Bello Today: Problems and Perspectives……Page 55
Two initiating war……Page 59
3 The Principle of Just Cause……Page 61
I Conversion of Heathens and Promotion of Democracy……Page 62
II. Paradigmatic Just Cause: Self-Defense……Page 66
III Reconceptualizing the Principle of Just Cause……Page 68
IV Proportionality and Just Cause……Page 72
V Just Cause and the Elements of the Crime of Aggression……Page 74
VI Rethinking the Separation of Jus ad Bellum and Jus in Bello……Page 76
I Two Paradigms of Just War……Page 79
II A Brief Historical Interlude……Page 82
III. Can Aggressive War Be Permissible?……Page 86
IV Punishment as a Just Cause for War……Page 90
I Introduction……Page 97
II Sovereignty and Humanitarian Crises……Page 98
III Sovereignty and Human Rights……Page 101
IV Human Rights and Intervention……Page 103
V Intervention and the State……Page 108
VI Humanitarianism and Nonideal Theory……Page 111
VII Conclusion……Page 116
6 War and Democracy……Page 117
I Democracy as Just Cause of War……Page 119
II Hierarchy, War, and Famine……Page 122
III. Extending the Democratic Peace: Beyond Anarchy
and Hierarchy……Page 128
IV. Conclusion: The Dialectic between Peace and Democracy……Page 134
Three Waging War……Page 137
I Consequence Conditions……Page 139
II Relevant Benefits……Page 142
III Relevant Harms……Page 147
IV Weighing Benefits against Harms……Page 151
V Conclusion……Page 155
8 Collateral Damage……Page 157
I The Doctrine of Double Effect and Collateral Damage……Page 159
II Social Contract Arguments and Collateral Damage……Page 167
III Consequentialism and Collateral Damage……Page 171
IV. Pacifism in Practice?……Page 176
I Destructiveness……Page 177
II Indiscriminateness……Page 181
III Dreadedness and Nonlethality……Page 187
IV Not WMD (or WID), but WAD……Page 192
10 Justifying Torture as an Act of War……Page 199
I. What Is Torture?……Page 200
II Why Torture Is Morally Wrong……Page 207
III. Exceptions?……Page 209
I Defining Terrorism……Page 217
II Defending Terrorism……Page 222
III The Moral Responsibility of Female Terrorists……Page 226
Four Ending War……Page 240
12 War’s Aftermath: The Challenges of Reconciliation……Page 242
I Justice and Reconciliation after War……Page 243
II The Centrality of Social Trust……Page 247
III. Law and the Truth Commissions: Conceptions of Justice……Page 250
IV Thinking about Victims and Perpetrators……Page 254
V Avoiding Dichotomization……Page 259
VI Concluding Comments……Page 261
I. When Is It Rational to Offer Amnesty?……Page 262
II. When Is It Morally Permissible to Grant an Amnesty?……Page 264
III. When Should the International Community
Respect an Amnesty?……Page 268
IV Conclusion……Page 277
I. Is Law Silent When Arms Are Raised?……Page 279
II The Law of War as Practical Humanitarianism……Page 283
III A Quick Tour of the Law of War……Page 286
IV Demarcating War……Page 289
V. Athena’s Disciples……Page 293
VI The Legal Consequences of Discipline……Page 295
VII Modern War Crimes Trials……Page 298
I Introduction……Page 302
II The Stoics and Aristotle……Page 304
III Revenge through the Lens of Honor……Page 307
IV Revenge Feelings in the Raw……Page 310
V Grief That Tempers Revenge……Page 314
VI Conclusion……Page 316
Bibliography……Page 320
Index……Page 334