Lecture notes
Pacifism- The Immorality of War
- Module
- Perspectives on Politics
- Institution
- Queens University Belfast (QUB)
Notes on Pacifism; intended to compliment notes on Just War Theory
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Lackey Reading. Thursday, 6 December 2018“The Immorality of War”- Political Realism and Anti-War Pacifism
• Political realism- amoral- means of expressing power
• Pacifism- immoral
• Political realism critique- problematising morality
• Pacifism- problematising right to wage war and morality
• Just war theory- key assumptions
o Within the scope of moral discourse
o We can differentiate between just and unjust wars
o Two warring parties cannot be equally just
o Political communities have the moral right to wage war
o Jus ad bellum, jus in bello, jus post bellum
▪ Just cause and principle of discrimination
• Pacifism and Anti-war Pacifism
o Universal pacifism
▪ All killing is wrong- both personal and political (life as sacred, Jainism)
▪ All violence is wrong- personal and political (Gandhi, Tolstoy)
▪ Extremely demanding and subject to many criticisms- sometimes life
is trumped by other values, sometimes violence is justified.
Euthanasia? Issues of dignity.
o Anti-war pacifism
▪ Strong presumption against killing and violence
▪ However, they are sometimes justified- ie. When an individual is
subject to aggression from another
▪ Target of retaliatory violence must be responsible (eg. Demonstrated
murderous/violent intent) and violence should be a last resort
▪ Rejection of just war- inherently at odds with the dictates of morality
• AWP contra Just Cause
o The “domestic analogy”- argument for communal self-defence based on
personal self-defence- mistaken
▪ Domestic level- more at stake, means your death
▪ Defeat in war does not mean destruction- rarely destroys a
community
▪ Even if the community is destroyed, individuals can create or
participate in other communities
o Thus, aggression does not override strong presumption against
killing/destroying individual lives
▪ Difference in kind
▪ We should avoid violence to save our individual lives/lives of the
enemy
▪ Resort to non-violent resistance instead- civil disobedience, boycotts
▪ Exception: cases of genocidal aggression- concerns self-defence
• Jus in bello
o On the impermissibility of killing soldiers
▪ Principle of discrimination presumes distinction between those
responsible and non-responsible
▪ Many combatants are not morally responsible
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