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Single Idea 23607

[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / c. Combatants ]

Full Idea

War is something that occurs not between man and man, but between States. The individuals who become involved in it are enemies only by accident. A State can have as its enemies only other States, not men at all.

Gist of Idea

Wars are between States, not people, and the individuals are enemies by accident

Source

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract (tr Cress) [1762], p.249), quoted by Jeff McMahan - Killing in War 2.5

Book Ref

McMahan,Jeff: 'Killing in War' [OUP 2009], p.79

A Reaction

This is the classic statement of the collectivist view, which goes on to assert that the morality of warfare is quite different from ordinary morality. McMahan argues against this view, very persuasively.

Related Idea

Idea 23608 If being part of a big collective relieves soldiers of moral responsibility, why not the leaders too? [McMahan]

The 18 ideas with the same theme [role and ethics of the fighters]:

23566 Princes should not justify a war to their subjects, and doing so would undermine the state [Vitoria]
20479 People at home care far more than soldiers risking death about the outcome of wars [Montaigne]
23609 I act justly if I follow my Prince in an apparently unjust war, and refusing to fight would be injustice [Hobbes]
23607 Wars are between States, not people, and the individuals are enemies by accident [Rousseau]
21073 Hiring soldiers is to use them as instruments, ignoring their personal rights [Kant]
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]
23584 Rejecting Combatant Equality allows just soldiers to be harsher, even to the extreme [Walzer]
23589 Kidnapped sailors and volunteers have different obligations to the passengers [Walzer]
23596 If all combatants are seen as morally equal, that facilitates starting unjust wars [McMahan]
23599 You don't become a legitimate target, just because you violently resist an unjust attack [McMahan]
23604 Volunteer soldiers accept the risk of attack, but they don't agree to it, or to their deaths [McMahan]
23605 Soldiers cannot know enough facts to evaluate the justice of their war [McMahan]
23608 If being part of a big collective relieves soldiers of moral responsibility, why not the leaders too? [McMahan]
23610 If soldiers can't refuse to fight in unjust wars, can they choose to fight in just wars? [McMahan]
23613 Equality is both sides have permission, or both sides are justified, or one justified the other permitted [McMahan]
23615 Fighting unjustly under duress does not justify it, or permit it, but it may excuse it [McMahan]