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Single Idea 23880

[filed under theme 25. Social Practice / E. Policies / 1. War / b. Justice in war ]

Full Idea

At the time when war was a profession, fighting men had a morality whereby any act of war, in accordance with the customs of war, and contributing to victory, was legitimate and right.

Gist of Idea

When war was a profession, customary morality justified any act of war

Source

Simone Weil (Is There a Marxist Doctrine? [1943], p.173)

Book Ref

Weil,Simone: 'Oppression and Liberty' [Routledge 1955], p.173

A Reaction

Note the caveat about 'customs', which were largely moral. See the discussion of killing the non-combatant prisoners in Shakespeare's 'Henry V'.

The 4 ideas from 'Is There a Marxist Doctrine?'

23877 Most people won't question an idea's truth if they depend on it [Weil]
23878 Weakness of will is the inadequacy of the original impetus to carry through the action [Weil]
23879 In a violent moral disagreement, it can't be that both sides are just following social morality [Weil]
23880 When war was a profession, customary morality justified any act of war [Weil]