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Single Idea 23587

[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / a. Just wars ]

Full Idea

Nuclear weapons are not designed for war at all. …They explode the idea of a just war. They are the first technological innovations that are simply not encompassable within the familiar moral world.

Gist of Idea

Nuclear bombs are not for normal war; they undermine the 'just war', with a new morality

Source

Michael Walzer (Just and Unjust Wars [1977], 17)

Book Ref

Walzer,Michael: 'Just and Unjust Wars' [Penguin 1984], p.281

A Reaction

A nuclear war can hardly lead to normal victory, if it destroys the thing you are trying to conquer. It is like bringing a machine gun to a boxing match.

The 25 ideas from 'Just and Unjust Wars'

23564 Deep ethical theory is very controversial, but we have to live with higher ethical practice [Walzer]
23593 Jus ad bellum and Jus in bello are independent; unjust wars can be fought in a just way [Walzer]
23567 Even non-violent intrusive acts between states count as aggression, if they justify resistance [Walzer]
23570 The only good reason for fighting is in defence of rights [Walzer]
23568 If whole states possess rights, there can be social relations between states [Walzer]
23571 States can rightly pre-empt real and serious threats [Walzer]
23572 Just wars are self-defence, or a rightful intercession in another's troubles [Walzer]
23573 For moral reasons, a just war must be a limited war [Walzer]
23577 Napoleon said 'I don't care about the deaths of a million men' [Walzer]
23574 The duties and moral status of loyal and obedient soldiers is the same in defence and aggression [Walzer]
23575 We can't blame soldiers for anything they do which clearly promotes victory [Walzer]
23614 Even aggressor soldiers are not criminals, so they have equal rights with their opponents [Walzer]
23578 Double Effect needs a double intention - to achieve the good, and minimise the evil [Walzer]
23579 Soldiers will only protect civilians if they feel safe from them [Walzer]
23580 States need not endure attacks passively, and successful reprisals are legitimate [Walzer]
23581 The aim of reprisals is to enforce the rules of war [Walzer]
23582 Reprisal is defensible, as an alternative to war [Walzer]
23584 Rejecting Combatant Equality allows just soldiers to be harsher, even to the extreme [Walzer]
23586 What matters in war is unacceptable targets, not unacceptable weapons [Walzer]
23588 With nuclear weapons we have a permanent supreme emergency (which is unstable) [Walzer]
23587 Nuclear bombs are not for normal war; they undermine the 'just war', with a new morality [Walzer]
23589 Kidnapped sailors and volunteers have different obligations to the passengers [Walzer]
23590 Criminal responsibility can be fully assigned to each member of a group [Walzer]
23592 We can only lead war towards peace if we firmly enforce the rules of war [Walzer]
23591 If the oppressor is cruel, nonviolence is either surrender, or a mere gesture [Walzer]