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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'.
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] |