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Jean-jacques rousseau state of war
Wars effect on literature
Theame of war in poetry
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Even though the general humanity believes in peace, it also recognizes that war is inevitable and, therefore, an exception to bring or preserve peace. As Rousseau describes “wars would be fought only if necessary, but if fought, they would be unrestrained…except by the natural sympathies for fellow human beings” (Doyle 147). This paradox of war demonstrates the increase in the willingness of domestic populations to accept the costs of war. Even in some cases where there is an opposition to a specific war, people often continue to pay the cost of what they perceived as a security or defense, ultimately the cost of warfare (Magagna). National (or personal) security is one of the powerful incentives that increases the domestic commitment in mobilizing
War is the means to many ends. The ends of ruthless dictators, of land disputes, and lives – each play its part in the reasoning for war. War is controllable. It can be avoided; however, once it begins, the bat...
Published in 1961, Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is a satire of war with a twist. Heller wrote his narrative nonlinearly. Although certain critics described the novel as “disorganized, unreadable and crass”, the mismatched chronology complements Heller’s style of writing and draws the reader’s interest. One key point of Catch-22, the catch-22 paradox, makes use of the nonlinear structure to encircle the reader in the contradictions. In addition, Heller’s style of writing provides a point of viewing different from most novels. While the narrative may seem complex and overwhelming at first, the reader learns to appreciate the subtleties of Heller’s labyrinthine plot.
“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” As depicted in the quote by Ernest Hemingway war is a difficult situation in which the traditional boundaries of moral ethics are tested. History is filled with unjust wars and for centuries war was not though in terms of morality. Saint Augustine, however, offered a theory detailing when war is morally permissible. The theory offers moral justifications for war as expressed in jus ad bellum (conditions for going to war) and in jus in bello (conditions within warfare).The theory places restrictions on the causes of war as well as the actions permitted throughout. Within early Christianity, the theory was used to validate crusades as morally permissible avoiding conflict with religious views. Based on the qualifications of the Just War Theory few wars have been deemed as morally acceptable, but none have notably met all the requirements. Throughout the paper I will apply Just War Theory in terms of World War II as well as other wars that depict the ideals presented by Saint Augustine.
The principles of Just War theory and different ethical frameworks have been used for many years to justify and reject plans for military interventions. These ideologies are useful tools for the leaders of governments and militaries to discuss and make decisions on the morality of different courses of action. If ISIS launched a series of terrorist attacks on American embassies as hypothesized, the given plan for military intervention would be morally justified due to several principles of Just War theory and various ethical frameworks. These include the ideas of jus ad bellum and jus post bellum from Just War theory and the ethical ideologies of utilitarianism and common good ethics.
Since the beginning of humans, some sort of conflict ahs arisen between them. Every culture has had a different take on war. There is however a general consensus that war is necessary. Those who question war are looked upon as deviants. It was hard and is still difficult to appose war now. Rise Against’s song Hero of War and Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est can be compared through the problems with war, the unnecessary glorification of war, and breaking from what society thinks of war. Through both works of art there is a general consensus on the terror of war.
In most cases, the cost of war does not play a role in explaining the democratic peace, only in explaining why democracies are unlikely to engage in fewer wars in general. While nationalism can be used to override concerns over the cost of war and mobilize popular support, it does not work against nations which share similar principles and in fact works against the predilection towards war. In part, this may help redeem the public constraint component of the structural explanation of the democratic peace. In particular, when combined with the assumption that the democratic peace is valid only in the post-World War II regions of the Americas and Western Europe, this explanation becomes more plausible.
Justice in warfare has become an influential perspective. In particular the moral implication highlights the core importance of the ‘Just War’ theory. The principle was first established in ancient Rome 106-43 BC by Roman Philosopher Cicero, he stated that, ‘no war is considered just, unless it is preceded by an official demand for satisfaction or warning, and a formal declaration has been made’, (Cicero, 1913, p.38-39). Therefore, it is precedent that a war is established under the principle of justice. The theory was further coined by Roman Christian Philosopher, Augustine of Hippo (345-430 BC) and later carried on by Aquinas (1274 BC). The principle was used to pursue the question on when it was permissible to wage a war and the conduct of a war. Both Christian and Greek philosophers had conflicts on when and how to fight in a war. Therefore, the moral objective for both philosophers was to establish peace. During this period, Aquinas became one of the most influential philosophers on the just war principle. He argues that for a war to be just, it has to fulfil three criteria, ‘(1),the war had to be conducted not privately but under authority of a prince, (2) there had to be a just cause for the war, (3) it was necessary to have the right intention to promote good and avoid evil’, (Dinstein, 2005, p.64). Aquinas emphasises that the principle of jus ad bellum focuses on the moral justification for war. Whereas, the moral conduct of war is implemented through the principle of jus in Bello. Therefore, it can evaluated that the just war theory implements a set of rules to justify military warfare.
William Butler Yeats wrote the poem, “On Being Asked for a War Poem,” after he was asked to write a political poem on the first World War. Many feel that this poem reflects Yeats’ inner conflict over whether poets can write war poetry. To others, this poem considers a recurring question, what is the role of the poet in society, and what is the function of poetry? In this poem, Yeats communicates his opinion that a poet should speak only about traditional romantic subjects and leave the war to soldiers and politicians. In one line in particular he states that poets “have no gift to set a statesman right.” The position taken by Yeats is that poets have no “gift”, or ability, to tell statesman how they should make decisions. In his opinion,
War is the epitome of cruelty and violence, an experience that can prove maddening and strip away some of the most intrinsic characteristics of humanity. Kurt Vonnegut’s experiences as a prisoner of war during World War II inspired his critically hailed novel Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), in which characters continually search for meaning in the aftermath of mankind’s irrational cruelty ("Kurt Vonnegut: 1922-2007" 287). Both the main character, Billy Pilgrim, and Vonnegut have been in Dresden for the firebombing, and that is what motivates their narrative (Klinkowitz 335). In his anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut expresses the adverse emotional effects of war through the psyche of Billy Pilgrim.
The question that I sought to answer with this paper was whether humans are biologically destined to wage war on one another. Admittedly, something of a broad topic. It seemed to me from news headlines and various history classes over the years that wars, in general, are fought over race, ethnicity or religion. Obviously, often the divides that exist between two ethnic groups don't surface in the form of war or conflict until an issue such as territory comes up. Yet even in territory disputes, the conflict itself still is rooted in the distinction the two sides see in one another: "no, you can't share this lake with us because you look differently/speak differently/worship a different god". Race is not a voluntary trait; it is genetically determined. Ethnicity is, to some degree, a plastic concept; created by human perception of boundaries and distinctions. Religion is an identity that one actively assumes, it involves participation and the adoption of a belief system. From this, one can see that the nature of the distinction is not so important as the distinction itself being made. From this, it would be easy to slip into the assumption that all it takes is the presence of difference to incite violence between populations; but this, I think, does not give humanity enough credit. My goal in this paper is to present an argument that while perhaps inclined, humans are by no means destined to wage war on one another.
War is a hard thing to describe. It has benefits that can only be reaped through its respective means. Means that, while necessary, are harsh and unforgiving. William James, the author of “The Moral Equivalent of War”, speaks only of the benefits to be had and not of the horrors and sacrifices found in the turbulent times of war. James bears the title of a pacifist, but he heralds war as a necessity for society to exist. In the end of his article, James presents a “war against nature” that would, in his opinion, stand in war’s stead in bringing the proper characteristics to our people. However, my stance is that of opposition to James and his views. I believe that war, while beneficial in various ways, is unnecessary and should be avoided at all costs.
People should realize that war is "part of human society" no matter mythic or sensory; it is first and foremost death and "gross human cruelty"(Hedges 26, 23). Chris Hedges separates mythic reality and sensory reality, in his essay "War is A Force that Gives Us Meaning," explaining that "in mythic war we imbue events with meanings they do not have" and "in sensory reality we see events for what they are" (21). In one of this year films "Letters from Iwo Jima" directed by Clint Eastwood, the sensory reality of World War II is shown through the perspective of Japanese Soldiers that had to guard the island Iwo Jima till the American troops completely destroyed each and every one of them. Governments paint an illusion and propagandized the mythic war for their citizens in order to win a war yet any kind of war is contradictory to the society's desires which, according to Gilbert's essay "Reporting Live from Tomorrow," are reached by transmission of the false beliefs such as where "we must believe that children and money bring happiness, regardless of whether such [things] are true or not"; in this case false beliefs add up to a good outcome for the society, improving its economy and overall population (222). The propaganda of war in a country is reached by same transmission of false beliefs such as ethnic stereotypes yet every war leads to some amount of destruction to the society. However, it is important to recognize that although there are wars that are fought simply out of stupidity and cruelty of the government; some wars, as cruel as they are, are might be fought for something more. But no matter what is the reason for a conflict and no matter how much there is of misunderstanding between the two sides, people should realize that all of us are human in a war that brings death, and that we are all more alike than different although we spent so much time building the wall that separates us.
The romanticism of war is separate and opposite of romanticism for life. They cannot exist at the same time. War stands for death and destruction and life is the opposite. There is a constant clash between the love of decency: courage and devotion to your fellow men, and the love of life free of the horrors of war. War, and all things that propel war, is inherently evil. Beliefs in heroism, honor, and dignity are all idealistic. To the soldier on the field of battler their sole purpose is self-preservation. The only way that soldiers can persevere through the God awful shitty mess of war is through the brotherhood between the soldiers. This bond does not negate the hypocrisy of war; instead, it allows the men to survive it. The brotherhood is love for the sake of self-preservation. At its core, war dehumanizes people and one cannot have love for life if they are less than human.
Looking at this war as an example of most wars, the causes of warfare stem from some sort of disagreement. Many of these disagreements derive from human insecurities about change. Fear of change drives people to hold tighter to their traditions and customs. When change is slow and progressive people may mutter under their breath, di...
All of these excerpts are talking about wars and their bad effects. Wars have affected not just the economy, social life of a country but also brought pains and hurts. In fact, many countries went through wars to show and prove their power and to expand their territory. But people are the only ones who actually fight and sacrifice on the war battles for their family, their relatives, or even for themselves and because of some force’s ambition. These are the points have been mentioned in the excerpts. However, they do have some different points of views towards wars and how people are going to deal with it. In excerpt one, Helen Keller expresses that the purpose of every war is about exploitation. For example: “The Civil War was fought to decide