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GREAT WORKS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF WAR Perhaps the greatest and most influential works in the by different means"; i.e. that war must not exist only for its own sake but 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 assertions derived from Tolstoy's observations of the Napoleonic Wars ), and was very influential on later thought about war. Tolstoy's thought was a big influence on Ghandi 's non-violent resistence philosophy. Niccolò Machiavelli wrote a book titled ''The Art of War'', however its focus is mostly on weaponry and strategy instead of philosophy. However, sections of his masterpiece '' The Prince '' discuss war from a philosophical point of view. SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT According to Anatol Rapoport 's introduction to his edition of the J. J. Graham Translation of Clausewitz's ''On War'', there are three main schools of thought in the philosophy of war: the cataclysmic, the eschatological, and the political. (''On War'', Rapoport's introduction, 13) These are, of course, not the only possible 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 Instinct s or a manifestation of a " Death Wish ", as Nature 's way of insuring 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)
::''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. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS REFERRENCES 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. |
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