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    © All Rights Reserved
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    6 views16 pages

    Michael Walzer Cap 1 e 2

    Uploaded by

    Priscila Villela Frascino
    Michael Walzer Cap 1 e 2

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 16
    Against “Realism” Fors long as men and women have talked about war, they have tlled about it in tems of right and wong. And for almost 23 ‘ong, ome among them have desided soh all called it chara, Imesied that war les beyond (or beneath) mora judgment. Wat ‘Sa wodd apart, where ie iuet sat sake, where human natre sedoced tots clement foms, where seifjnteest an : Eeoune] Tice mien and women 0 what they mrt to eave thet Seis and thei communities, and ray and law have no pace . and Wnt Taga Bene OF var Whe Taw Henk Sometimes th slence i extended to other fr of competitne [—xtinig, 25 inthe popular prover, “Al's fai in love and a.” ‘That means that abything foes—eny Rnd of deceit in love, ay ind of violence in war. We ean nether pease nor Bae thee sothing to sy. And yet we are rarely sent. The language we ase f tal about love and war 50 sich with moral mening that it ‘ould hardly have been developed except though centuries of ag ‘Seat Fattfulaes, devotion, chsity, shame adult, seduction, Tenaya; agresson, seltétense. appeasement, erly, rthlew es, stro, masscre—all these words are judgments and [ud Img sas commen a human achat loving or Aghting its true, however, that we efter lak the courage of our jd | sent, and especially so in the ese of military conic. The mora Posture of maskin i not well represented by that poplar prover Shout love and war. We wonld do beter to matka contact rather fan = simiaity: befor Venus, censeios; before Mats, nid 3 "Tue Monat Reatsry or Wan Not that we don't jstifyor condemn partir attacts, but we {oo estamy and uncertaily (or loudly aad rece) af we tere not soe that ur judgments reach othe realty of war. ‘The Realist Argument Realism isthe iste. The defenders of silent lege claim to have dlicovered an awfol th: what we conventionally cll ohumanity 's simply humanity under presare. War stipe avay our evlied adoonments and reveals ovr nakesnes: ‘Thy describe that naked ‘a for oy nok without cetan elth Tefal selfconcened, Akriven, murders. They ateat wrong in any simple seme. The words ate sometines desenptve Pandora, the desis en 1 Sid of apology: yes, our solder commited atocitie n the couse ofthe bate, but thas what war does to people, that's nat war Uke The prover, all a, favoted defense of dbs BaP appt be wnfe And one was Aner on The lw when ones enaged in acts Bat would tense be Caled nlf S the ae anguments here tat wl ne in SBy own spunent tcton and coos, refecnes to ne Sty and dre, that we can ecoguze forts of moral mune dnd that have or don't have fre in prt emer But thee tls general account of wr a elm of veces sed drs, the Por of which ito make dicouse about parla cases pent {o be ile cate, ask of soe with whch we conceal even from eevee afl th: I that gen account tat | ae fo cllenge be 1 can begin ay om work, and I want Challenge ita source and int mort comping for, wt pt fora by the hstonan Thurydier sod the Peper Thomas Hobie There two men sprsted by 3/00 yur are collaborator of Kind for Hobbes tamlsted Tecpel Hany ofthe Poponnesen War a then ener aigumet form Levitan Is not my purer hereto wea ul pisos ‘se by zgument and then by example thatthe judgment of War and of wartime conduct i a esis enterprise ‘Against “Realism” ‘The Metion Dialogue The dilgge betwen the Athenian generals Cleomedes and ‘Tiss and the magistrates ofthe island state of Melo i oe of the high points of Thucpdier latory and the climax of hi tel, Melo was a Spartan colony, nd its poople had "Wherefore retused to be subject, the resto the lands wee, unto the Athenians Dot vested at Sst newt nd aerards, when She Aenians put them to by wasting ofthe nd, they entered nto open war” This i clasc account of sgaression, for to commit agaresion i simply to “put people toi" a Thucydides describes But such description, he sees to sy, merely external; he Wants to show ts the iter meaning of war His spoesmen ae the two AThenizn ‘ever who demand 1 parley std then speak 25 genenls have rarely done in military history: Let us have no fine words aboot Taste, they #24. We for our part will not pretend that, having defeated the Pesians, our empire deserved: you must not claim that having done no iy to the APhenian people, you have & ight Lt alone Wek intra of shat eae al ‘shat i necessary For thie what ori realy Hikes “hey tat Ihave ods of power exact as mach a5 they can, and the weak yield to rch conditions a Bey ean et Ter not only the Melis here who bear the burdens of neces siy. The Athenians are den, too hey mes expand tei emp, ‘Cleoredes snd Tie belive, ot lore what they already hve. The realty of Melo "wil be an argument of our weakness, snd ous hated of one power, among those we have ele ven” It wll espe ebelion Uhoghout the Mande WhcreveT ew 387 WOT tne “ofended with the ncesty of subjection”—and what subject isnot offended, eager for eadom, 1esentfl of his conquers? ‘When the Athenian general say that men “wil everywhere reign cover such they e to strong fo” they are not only deseribing the deste for ploy snd command, but algo the more now ness [ity ar ateestte pais ep oe De HOOEET Tey OPE eo] ‘quer when they can, they only eeveal weakness and invite attack; nd 9, by a neceaity of mature” (2 phrase Hobbes later made his ‘om, they conguer when they ca, "The Mins, on the other hand, ae too wesk to conquer, They face» basher nowssit.yeld or be destroyed. "For you have oot Ti fand-e match of ver upon equal fens Dut ther 3 Com Saltaton upon your safety." The les of Melos, however, valve freedom above sley: "Tl you Hen to resin your command, and ‘Tae Monat Reassry oF Wan thee aterments may be ue inter own tems, they dono oach ‘he plea alii of he core undestnd the Aen Teisingoran ste, towers, that Thais has told ot hig at al abot the Athenian decison, And if ne psc Oe tc, hot inthe cou room at Melos wheres erel poly mas Teing expounded, but the semi st Athens where at poly vas hit adopted, the srgiment ofthe generals ns vey bee fog In the Greeks nthe Enghsh language, te word neers doles the pars of indsperrble and teiable’™ At Nees, ‘Geomedet an Tiss mined the to of tae, sessing ihe at {he asembly they coud have gl only seat the Ey ig, 1 apostate dstucbon of Nelo at nessa indent able) forthe prsraton of theempe. But hs cla etal in two senses. Fin it evades the nal qusion of whether the Iselin of the mpite war Self near. There were Some ‘Athenians, a les, who had doubts aboot tht, and ore who outed thatthe empire had to bea eierm gate of domination and sabjection (a the poly adopted for Mels sagged) Seo Saal, xaggcts the nie and fowsght ofthe gore ‘They ae not saying with cersiny that Athens wil fl les Melis datoyed th argument haf do wth probit ad ‘ks And soc angament sre say angle Weal he doe ton of Mels eal rece Athens ais? Are tht alternate pices? Wht are the ily ot of thi one? Would tb ig ‘What woud other peopl think of Athens i were ei out ‘nee the deat begs also of mora and statepequstons sr elt came up. And forthe paras nthe debate the Cutcome isnt ging tobe determined "by necesito naties bat by the opinions they held or come tool aa teat of te arguments they bear and then bythe Qtions they ely make indnduty and collect” Atewndy the pee cay tat ¢ cern decision as inertabl, and tat, pruned nat “Thucydides wants ws to Belove Hot the dei can nl be ade afters, or etait hee mediated by 2 ross of ple ‘cl daiteraton and Tues could at Iso what tvitble ntl that proces had ben completed. Jodgents of neesity inthis sense me aleve seteoperte in Gace the wor of hit, not Hits Now the morl pint of view dees i leptiacy fom te penjecive ofthe ater When we make mel adement we ty Io reapie at peopectve” We tetemte the dees taking 8 ‘Agains“Realsm” process or we rehearse our om fate decison, aking wat we told have done (oe wat we would do) in similar cumstances, ‘The Athenian genes ecogie the importance of such questions, for they defend thei policy certain “that you likewise, aad other that should have the Same power which we have, would do the same.” But that i 2 dubious knowledge, epecaly 20 once we ‘eae that che "Malian decree was sharply opposed in the Athe tian asembl. Our standpoint is thet of ctns debating the Secre, What should we do? ‘We have no secount ofthe Athenian decision to attach Melos ‘cof the decion (which may have been taken atthe sme tine) toil and enslave ts peopl. Phtrch claims that i wa Abad, chief achitest of the Sian expeiton, who wat "the principal ‘ase ofthe slaughter. having spoken in favor ofthe decee."™ He played the part of Cleon in the debate tht Thueydides does ‘econ, that occured some yeas ear, over the fate of Mytiene Tes worth glancing back 2 that eater agement, Mite bad ‘ben an all of Athens from the time ofthe Persian Watt wat never a subject city in any formal way, but Bound by treaty to the Athenian ruse. In 428 it rebaled and formed an allance with ‘he Spartans. After considerable fighting, the city wat cepted hy Athenian fres, and the ssembly determined "to put to death all the men of Mylene thst were of age, and to male slaves of the women and children: lying to thee charge the revolt ial, in hat they eevee not beng in subjection ar other were. But the following day the citizens “felt «kindof repentance = and began to cousderwhata great and crud dere it ma, that not the authors oaly, but tat the whole city should be drtroyed.” Iti this second debate that Thoydies has recorded, or some part of it ping ws two speeches, that of Cleon upholding the ougia! ‘deyer and that of Diodoius wiping revocation. Cleon ates, Jae inte of collective guilt and retbuie justice Diodots ofersa citque ofthe deterrent eects of capital punishment. The sembly acepts Diodots’ postin, convinced apparent that Ye estruction of Myslane wotld ot uphold the fore of teats fre the stability ofthe empire, [tis the appeal to interest tht sump hae often been pointed out though i should be ‘emerbeed that the ecaion forthe appeal was the sepentance ofthe eitzes. Moral ans, not politcal clelation, lads them to wony aboot the ecivenes oftheir decree In the debate over Melo, the postions must ave ben reversed [Now there was no retsbutvit argument to make, fo the Melis 9 ‘Tw Monat Reatsrr or Wak your yas to get loos fom you, wll undergo the utmost danger: ‘would it not in ws that be already fee, be gest asenest ed cowardice if we should ot encounter anything whatsoever athe than sulfer ourselves to be brought into bondage?” Thovgh they ‘know that twill be 2 “hard matter” to stand anit the power and fortune of Athens, “nevewhelss we bev that, fr fortone ‘we shal e nothing infer, a having the godt on ovr se, beta ‘we stand innocent against men unjust.” And at for power they hope for asstance ro the Spartans, "who ae of neces blige. Sf for no other cause, yet for consanguinity’ ake and for her own honor to defend ws" But the gods, too, reign where they can, ey the Athenian genes and consanguinity and hone have nothing todo with necessity. The Spartan will (messi) think only of ‘themselves: "mast apparently ofall me, they hold for honor that which pleueth and for ust that which profteth So the argument ended. The magatuster refused to sender the Athenians li siege to their city, the Spartans sent no help Final, after some months of fighting in the minter of 416 Me Melos was betrayed by several of it citizens. When futher 1e- sistance veemed impossible the Medians “yielded themselves to the discretion ofthe Athenians: who slew ll the men of mitt ag ‘made saves ofthe women and chlden; and inhabited the pass ‘witha colony sent thither atta of 500 men oftheir own. ‘Thedlogoe between the generale sd the magitte a tee aay and philbsopicalconsraction of Thucydides, The mayatates speak as they well might have done, bat thir convention pie) and heres is only afi to what the caseal ee Dionysia al he "depraved shrewenes” ofthe Athenian generals I the ge cals who have often seemed unbelievable Theit words, wes Dionysia, "were appropiate fo oriental monarchs but ant to be spoken by Athenians." Peshape Thucydides means us to notice the unfitness, not so mach ofthe word but of the polices Accning te Harden ven Nemes ft dor hi pt fo an ims Satter eae Soopers oe aes Soyer ace cares Get Wace er oeoe teats nn ay a SIRES Coe cpa sioey oe oe SSA SS Shee eos 6 Against “Realism” they were ued to defend, and thnks we might have mised it had he permitted the generals to speak at they probaly infact spoke, vething “fi pretenses” over thir wie actons We are to under stand that Athens mo longer elt, Cleomedes snd sas do not reprcsent thet noble people who fought the Pestans inthe nome ‘of freedom and whote politics and cule, 3s Dionsis sys, “ex ceed such a homanizing inuence on everyday if.” They repre Sent instead the imperial decadence of the city state It isnot thst. they ae war criminals in the moder sens; that idea alien to ‘Thucydides. Bu they embody «certain loss of ebial balance, of ‘evant and moderation. Thee statemanchip is Samed, and their “realistic” speeches provide anion contrast othe Blinds tnd arrogance with which the Athenians only a few months later launched the diastous expedition to Sly. The Histon, on this view, 2 tagedy and Attens tel the tragic hea? Thucydides has given us 2 morality play inthe Greek pe, We cen glimpse his meaning in Eup’ The Trojan Wome, writen inthe i mediate aftermath of the conquest of Melon nd undoubtedly in tended to sugest the human sigSsance of slaughter and slavery and to peedist a divine vetibution* How ye arti ‘etnedes down of ei, ye that et ‘Tempio delton andy waste ‘Tombs the usted snctan wee ‘Thence dvd, youslvr so soon tae) Bat Thucydides seems in fct to be making a ether diferent, sand amore soul, tatement than thi quotation suggests, and not shout Athens s0 much as about war ioe. He probably did ot mean the harshness ofthe Athenian generals toe taken a9 sgn of depravity, but rather asa sgn of innpatence,toughmindednes, ‘honest—qualities of mind pot inappropeat in milary command cx. He arguing. s Werner Jaeger har sd that "the pape of force forms 2 realm of own, with lave of is own,” tinct and separate from the las of moral fe” This i certainly the way Hobbes read Theis, and itis he reading with which we most ome to grips. For the zeal of fore ie indeed distinct ood i this am accurate account ofits Law, then one could no more exit the Athenian for their watine polices than one could ‘sta ston for fling downward, The slaughter ofthe Melans ‘explained by reference othe enewmstancesof wat and the neces sities of nature; and again there ir nohing to say. Or rather, one ancy anything, call necesity crust aod war lish bot while 7 "Tue Monat Reatsry or Wan had done Athens no injury. Alcibiades probably talked ike Thos ‘ids gene, ough with the alliportantaifeeace {have slready noted. When he told ‘his fellow ctizem thatthe dere was neces edn mean tt rind by the ve at feveim the realm of foc; he meant merely tht it was needed in Tis view) to reduce the rls of rebelin among the subject eter ofthe Athenian empire And his opponents probably ape, ike the Melans, tht the decree war Gihononble and vast aed ‘ould more lily excite reientment than fear thoughout the ‘ads, hit Melon didnot threten Athens in ay way an that ther polices would seve Athenian interes an Aten se {Sec Pehap heya emindd theese ofthe epentance in the cle of Mytlene and uiged them once aghn to 20d the cruelly of masace and enslavement How Alias wen out, and How close the vote wa, we dot Know. Bit there is no reson fo think tht the desion was predetermined and debate of wo val 1p more with Mels than with Mytene. Stand in imagination in the Athenian sembly and one casi fe a ene of feed, But the asm of the Athenian genta hs» frte ht Te ‘snot only denial of the fede that makes mor decision psitle i i 2 denial abo ofthe meaningflness of moral ago ent, The steond aim is dont tothe ft. If we mast act imaceordance with our interes, riven by or fess fone snathes, then ak sbou uti canoe posi be anything move than alk eefer tone purposes Bat me can make ou own ad fo wo goss that we can sate with them That ir why the Atteian gener could have woven “fir pctenes” a etl othe Mlin mage trates in dicoune ofthis acct anything can e sid, The words have no ear tfc, no certain dfinitons, no lope etal ment. "They at, as Hobbes writes fa Leith, “ever ese with febtion to the penon fat eth them. and they expres that ‘pon’ appt and fern and noting ele only ie Fret ne Stans ate or eet tht ey Bld Sonoable that which pleeth them and for just that which itt” Or, at Hoes ater explained the name ofthe ios nd vices ae of “uncertain signeation > econ lat at tr lth and et cy what sneer aso’ on pray, what anata agai eA ert eb pe be tue Hoss of ny ocaton "Never'—antil the sovereign, who i ak the supreme linge utory, fre the meaning of the moral voesbulay but inthe Aphet“Restan” \ state of war, “never” without quaifetion, because in tat state, ‘by denon, no sovereign rules. Infact, even in wl soviet, the sveteign docs not entirely succeed in benging certainty int the ‘wotd of ve and vice Hence moral dco i alway suspect, And wari only an extreme case ofthe aatehy of mora meaning It's generally toe, bat especially so im time of vislent soni that we can undentend what other people ste tying only if we see through their "fair petense” and tanlte moral talk into the der crrency of intrest al: Whe the Metin int thet thie ‘ase just they ae saying only that they dont want tobe sob jectsand had the generals claimed that Athens deserved is empire, they would simply have ben expreing the lst for conquest the er of overtvow ‘Ths sa powefl argument because i plae upon the common experienc of moral dissgrecment—paifulstsined, exasperating, ‘and endl. Fr lis ealam, however, fa to peta the elites of that expetience or to explain it character, We ean see this leary I think, i we lok agin atthe agument over te Mitiene decree, Hobbes may wel have had thi Gebate in ind when he wrote, “and one [ealeth]crety what another justice «The Athenians repented ofthe eruety, writes Thucydides, wine Cleon told them that they had no Ben cruel at allt jut severe. Yet this was m no sense a dagreement over the mecning of words, Had there been no common meanings, Gere could have been no debate at all The cruelty ofthe Athenians conised in sehing to punish ‘ot only the autho ofthe rebelion but oer aswel and Cleon red that that would indeed be cruel, He then went onto argue, 2 he had to do given his poston, that in Mylene there weve no “others” "Let not the fle be laid upon a fen, andthe people ‘soled For they haveal lke aken ame against Teannot pusve the angument forthe, since Thueyides doesn, tut there an obious rejoinder fo Cleon, having fo do with the Stats of the women and chien of Mytene This might involve the deployment of additonal moral terms (innocence, for ext ple); ot it weuld not kang any more than the argument aboot nety and justice Ranpy—on idinyneratic dfiiaons Tn fect efnitions ace not at ue here, but desitins and interpreta tos The Athenians shared amoral wesblay, shared it mith he people of Mylene and Melos and allowing for elt die ‘ences they shar it with os too. They had no aifScaly, and we Tove noe, in undentanding the claim of the Melan magstrates ‘hat the invasion of thie sland was unjust. tin aplyng the ‘Tw Monat Reatsry or Wan ‘greet pon words to acta cater that we come to dsgre. These Adsagreemens ave in part generated and slways compounded by antagonistic ntrss and mutual Fas. Bot hey have other caus, too, which help to explain the complex and disparate ways in which men and women (even when they have sma interests and ‘no reson to feat one another) portion theres in the moral ‘word. Thte ae ist of al, serous dials of perception snd infomation (in wat and pits geaealy), and so controversies, ate over "the facts of the case” There ate sharp dispar In the weight we attach even to values we sre there ae in the actions Weare eady to condone when thee vals ae theatened ‘There ae conicting commitments and obligations that force to vclent antagonism even when we te the point of ene an ‘othe’ poston. All this i vel eno, and common enough. st makes morality ito 4 world of goodath quacels ae well ws 2 ‘World of ideology and verbal manipulation. Tn any case, the possibilities for manipulation are limited ‘Whether or not people speak in good fuith, they cannot sy just anything they please, Moral talks coercive, one thing leas t0 another. Peshaps thats why the Athenian genes did not want to ‘begin. A war called unjust 6 ot, to parphrte Hobbes, 2 wat misled; it war mised for pariclar reson, and anyone making the charge is required to provide patie torts of ev ence. Similar Hf Tela that I en Sighting oti, T mast alo claim that Iwas attacked ("pot to it" the Mine were) ot treatened with tac, or hit Iam coming tothe ad of vt ‘oF someone else's attack. And each of there claims bas ity ov tntalnents, lading me deeper and deeper into werld of di ‘course whee though I an goon talking indie, Tam severely onsraned in what I cam say. Imus say Us or that nd at many points ina long argument this or hat wil be trae or fae. We on't have to tanlate moral talk into interest talk inorder 10 understand it; morality refers in sown way to the rea wold Let ws considera Hobbist example Tn Chapter XXI of Lavsthan, Hobbes urges that we make allowance for the “natural tiorous ‘ns of mankind. "When armies fight. there i on ene sie, ‘ath a running sway: yet when they doit not out of treachery, bot fear, they are not etemed to do it unjitly, bot dishonor.” "Now, jdaments ae called for here: we ae to dtinguith cowards from tits. If these are werds of “incontant sigiation™ the (ask is impossible and aburd. Every traitor would plead natural Against “Realism” timorousness, and we would accept the pea or not depending on vtheter the soldier was s frend or an enemy, an bic tour vencement orn ally and supporter I ruppse we srmcimes do behave that ay, tit & not fhe cate (nor does Hobbes, when i ‘comet to cate sappote that i ie) hit the judgments we make ‘in ony be understood in these temas. When we charge a man smith treason, we have to tll a very speial Kind of tory about him, and we have to provide conerete evidence that the Hory true. If we call him a traitor when we cant tel that toy, we ate not wing words inconstantly we are spying, ‘Strategy and Morality Morality and justice ae talked about in much the same way 2s milltay strategy, Strategy i the other language of wan, and while itis commonly sid to be fe fom the aiienier of mor di ‘curse, its use & equally problematic, Though gener agree on the meaning of ssepe terme—entapment, sees, aking me eave, contentaton of fores, and 50 on—they nevertheless dit gee about stately appropeate cours of action, They ge Shout what ought to be done. After the bate they daagree about “what happened, and if they were defeated, they a ira Tinguage of stiesti stati voeabulary i 2 valabe to him ast to competent commander, But that ‘Sot tosay thats tens ae meninges. It would be ages simp Hos we on “nm” ti cnt The 3 ah nr SEE IE EP ce he een Tr dae The input se nerve sy el a te fer Tse auch sry he sot ant Aes eevee wth Seen HELA, Some Sa hee SEES RA So 5 ‘Tue Monat Reauary oF Wax forthe incompetent if they wee, for we woul then have na way to talk about incompetence No dub, “one elle regent wht another ealleth stage redeployment.” But ve do Lnow te Aiference between these two, and though the fact ofthe ese may be dificult to collet and interpret, we se nevethclew able & ‘make critical jdgments, Similac, we cam make moral judgment: moral concepts and aot mere sonmative terms. tolling solder (who often dont] Item) what to do. They ae descriptive tems, and without they [We would have no coherent way of talking about wat, Here ae or CAWE rE Ore {he same ground they marched over yesterday, bot fewer now: Test ‘age, many without weapons, many wounded: we call thi ate treat Here aresoldies ning up the inhabits of peasant wlge, men, women, and children, and shooting them down: we cal T's ouly when ther substantive content & fairly clear tut ‘moral and strategic terms canbe ued impertivly, andthe sto, they embody expresed inthe form of rales Never refise eats toa solder tying to surrender. Never advance with your Bake Uuprotected, One might construct out of sch commana roe or stateic war plan, and then t would be important to nate whether of not the actual conduct of the war conformed te the Plan. We can assume tat it would not, Wari tecalciuam th tow of theta eon aul tense degree. In The Charteshowne of Pama, Stendhal proviss + Acserpton ofthe Battle of Wsteroo that intended tormock the ‘ery idea ofa strategic plan, It an account of combat a cha, erefore vot an account at al buts denis oto spea, tht com hs ram 8 of Wateloo lite that of Major General Fuller who views the Intl as an onnized serie of maneuvers nd coumicrmanconey ‘Thestratepst is not anwar of confusion and disor in he Bld, 08 he entieyuniling to ace these ns anpects of wa tl, Be atraleBets of the stress of tte. Bute sees them abo Against "Realism" 1 i ith he fact hat hia ae ten vite ed ted the dept eesti to men soe te hs oon Senteem coca oth erent of her stots Bar ose Ae th, he dn ot rue oar ‘ion pupae sol pratt, tx whos ic ote ‘posible’ Confort with Bw many eines commited fr cxins ose or hte eine St sgene et oe ‘Sic fr fan aps Net he sen ae sa Secale mat tnpctant sts of wer dss ok theater cigs of maakt he ten ad eons at inte oot oy sci they te ko ponaaree Aes 1 lbclc bell cm pene tr tat hy each Sry mpi te pr fem pac) Rae eer cegampeaaags migeeee cierto (alse atsctiat a th egeeace of which Set igee daepee o nike aa Pe ee one TE pera to sos ht the mor ally of war mt ed eisesae Seer epics bel y econo Jawyer, publicists of all sorts, But thee people don't work in ia mater of command esponsibility tires of dicplineo con miperativesTave een ignored be looks for lessons to be leaned, The moa theorist i in the same position, He too mast come 4 Tn on Whe experience OF combat and their vies ave valve only inofar as they sve shape and structure to that experience in ‘ays that ae plausive tothe ret of us, We often sry, for example, that in time of war solder and statemen mast make agonizing Aeisions. The pineal enough, bat iti not one ofthe natal sft of combat Agony ir not like Hobbit fear, it entiely the Product of ear moral view, snd it common in wat only smofat 4 those views ae common. Tt wa not some unusual Athenian ‘who “repented” ofthe decsion to kl the men of Nitilene, bt the citizen generally, They repented, and they were able to under. stand one another's repentance, became they shared sense of ‘what cructy meant. It 8 bythe agnment of such meanings that sve make war what it hich sto say thats could be and it ‘rbably hasbeen) someting diferent What of 2 soldier or ststerman who doesnot feel the agooy? We sy of hin that he ¢ monly igorant ox morally sense, rmoch 26 we might sy of 2 general who expesienced po difictl ‘making (relly) difculedecsion tht bedi aot understand the strategie reltis f hs own portion or that he was reckless and imsensble of dager. And we might goon to auc in the ese of a5 ‘The Monat Reatsry oF Wan the general, that soch a man har no busines fighting or Teading ‘thes in battle, tat he ought to kaow that his army's ight Banke says vulnerable, and ght to wory about the danger and take step to aoid it Once agin, the casei the seme wth moral d= ison: soldiers and statesmen ought o know the dangers of rely and injastce and wony about them and take sep to Wold thems Historical Relativism ‘Against this view, however, Hobbit relativism is often given a Social or historical form: moral and strategic hnowedg, i ad changes overtime or varies among politcal communities. and so what appeas to me as ignorance may lock like undestnding 0 and they make fora tle thats complex inthe telling, But the Importance ofthat tale for ordinary mera fe and, above al, for the jodgment of moral conduct is ely eragperted. Between radically separate and dissimilar eature, one can expect to hod ‘he mera ality of war snot the sme fo wa twa for Genghis, Khan: no's the strategie rely, But even fondamental seal ad pital tansformations with a paren cltre may well eave the moral world intact oat lest sfiiently whole so thet we ex sil besa share mth our ancestor, I ire inde. SRST ST oon nd an ewe ow to at among our contemporaries by studying the actions of ‘ose who have preceded us. The asumption ofthat sty that they ssw the word much as we do. That not alway tre, but i 's tue enough ofthe time to gre stabity and coberence to ut total ives (and to our military ves). Eve when wold views ‘hivalty was abandoned in erly modem times—notins about right condvct are remarlably persistent: the military cade survives the death of ware ideas hall sy more about thi sural later ; TTI BEET Wa By Teak 5 ‘an example from feudal Burope, an age in some ways more distant fom us than Greee of the city states, but with which we never theless share moral and trate perceptions 6 Against “Realism” ‘Three Accounts of Agincourt ‘Actually, the sharing of state perceptions i in thi ase the smote dubious ofthe tre. Those Fench knights 20 many of whom beat Agincourt had notion aboet combat very feet from out form. Modem ents have til felt able to eine this "anatical therence tothe old method oF Bghting” (King Henry, after al fought diferenty) and even to ofer practi suggestions the French attach, wuites Oman “shold have been accompanied by 2 turning movement around the woods "Had he not been “overconfident” the French commander would have seen the ad- vantages of the move. We canta in similar way aboat the Crucial moa deesion that Henry mace toward the cod of the Tattle, when the English thought their victory secure. They had talen many psones, who were os assembled behind the Hin, Soddenly2 French attack sed atthe soply fete far in the rear seemed fo threaten renewal of the fighting, Here is Helinsed's Scent oantury account of the indent vitally copied! fom an ‘rer hoi) xin Fleochen on honeback - tothe names of si inde hoeren whch woe theft tht ethan tht he English teats and palms exe apd way ian fom the oot snysoficent gtd to deed the ane ented {he kings Simp sel thee. robbed the tenis, bake phe Ed ead sway ates and sew sachet a thy Ease ‘make any tsatance "= But wc teeny of the keys and opr wish rn say fr feat ofthe Preachann same the eps ed at comic el ings ee tnd begin new fell and mstsing fueher thatthe prose ‘Toul Wear aio his enemies contr toh secstomed ‘si, comaded by sound of tamper Hat ery man sold ‘ncotienty ly ha prone The moral character of the command is suggested by the words “acestomed gentenest” and incontinent It inwaved shat tering of personal and convention seststnt (the ater wel tablished by 1415), and Holinhed goes to some lengths to fxplain and excbe i, suesing the bing’ fear tht the prsones Tn ores held were about to ron the ghting. Shakespeare, whose HronryV closely fllows Hoinshed, goes frter, emphasing the Slaying of the English servants by'the French zed omitting the ‘hromeler’ set that only those who resisted wee billed 7 “Twe Monat Restore or Wan ‘luo. Kil the (boy and the lags! Ti expel agit the two an. Tin ae tan 2 pc Of avery, ni 908 a, Subsea. va a ‘At the same tne, however, he cannot rest a oil comment Gower, they have Burned and cai aay al tat wat the gs is, bere the ie mat yoy a eae ry ‘oli to eth pons the ng Bing” A century and sbalf lates, David Hume gv a similar account, without the ion, stresing instead the Rings evento cancelation oF is oder some gentlemen of Pedy... had fallen wpon the English ‘agpge and were doing xeon on the wnat fellowes of eg hy et et hem Hey sg he con Sides of him, begun to eters appreenion fom his pone tnd be thoubt neces to suet general order for patting hem Te death but om dbcoveing the rot, be opp Ue sah, sd ‘sitll mes pret amber ete the moral meaning i aught inthe tension between “neces: sary’ and “Saoghte” Since slaughter i the king of men at if they weteanimals—it "makes » mace” wrote the poe! Dryden, what vas a wa0"—it canot often be cled neceary. Ifthe isonet were 0 cay to Ll they were probably not dangerous ough to warn the Kling, When he grasped the seu its tin, Henry, who was (s0 Hume wants ts fo believe) moral man, called of the exeenbons French chronicles and historians wrt ofthe event in mach the same way. Isom hem that we lear that many ofthe Engl nights elused oR her prsonen—not, chil out of oman, rather forthe sake ofthe fasom they expected bat alo "think ing of the dihoner thatthe horabe exrutions would weft on themsches"™ English writer have fcised more, and more wor edly, on the command of the king: he was, afte alte king. In te later nineteenth centr, at about the same time the ules ‘of war wth spect to prisons were beng cde, their enti ‘re increasingly sharp: "s bral bathe,” "cold blooded whele Sale murder" Home would not have sid that, but the diference Detween that and what he decay fe margin not a matter of ‘moral ot linguistic transformation To judge Henry cureves ve would need more creumstanti] azcout ofthe battle than [can provide here" Even gen that account, ou opinions might ier depending onthe allance we 8 Against “Realism” were willing to make forthe ses and excitement of bate. But {his ea cet example ofa situation common in bot strategy and ‘moray, where or sharpest daagreements are sroctured ad or fprized by our undying agreements, by the meanings we share For Holiathed, Shakepene, and Hiume—traiionsl chronicles, [Renaisance playeght, and Enlightenment histoan—end for ot too, Henry's command beloags Yo aeategory of mitary acts that requis Sertay and judgment. Ie at @ mater of fac! mouly problematic, berawe it acept the rks of culty and injustice. Ta ‘actly the same way, we might regard the bate pln ofthe French Commander oy strategically problematic, because it accepted the ns of fontalasult on pepared position, And. si, a gen tral wo did wot ecogize tee sks pope si to be ignorant ‘tral or sates Tn mora ie, ignorance RAE aT Gat common, Goboneay FB ‘moreso. Even those older and statexmen who don't fel the agony of problematic desson generally Know that they should fee it Harry Triman's Sat statement that he neve lost 2 night’ sleepover his desi to dop the atomic bomb on Hireshina is tot the sort of thing politi leader often say. They ually Bad it preferable to stress the panflnes of decision-making: it one ofthe burdens of ofce, and it is best if the burdens appear to be ome T-supect that many ofceholdes even experience Sinply Des Wey ae esprtel to. thy dont they Te not ‘it The clearest evidence forthe stability of our values overtime i the unchanging character of the lis soldiers and statesmen tel "They ie in order jst theme, and wo they dese for ws the lineaments af tice Wherever we Bnd hypaei, we alt Bnd mora knowledge. "The hypocnte is like that Russan general in Solzhenitsyn's Augut s9ig, whose aborate bate reports barely ‘onctald hi otal mbit to conta o diet the battle He kes at least that there was a story to fella set of names to attach to things and happenings, 0 he tied to tell the story and attach the fumes. His eflort nas ot mere mimicry; it way 50 Ho speak, the Tate that incompetence pays to wndestanding The ease ‘he same in moral Ife: there really story to tela way of tle ing abut war and bates thatthe re of ts recognize st morally appropriate don't mean that patelar decisions are neces or ston. or simply night Or wong, nly that there & a way of secing the world #9 that moral decsinmaking make seme ‘The bypocite knows tht thi tre though he may actualy se the wot diferent 9 ypocty is rife in wartine discourse, because it i expecially Jmportan at such atime to appear to be nthe right Ie ot only that the moral stakes are high; the hypocrite may not understand hat; more crucially, his action wil be judged by other peopl, who are not hyporits, and whos judginents will fect ther pol Sis toward hi. There would be no point to hypocrisy if this were r "pate Thing n 9 world where ‘0 on fold the trth. Th hypocrite presumes onthe moral under Standing ofthe est of ws, and we have no choice, | think, except to take his eterton seriously and put them tothe test of moa realm, Te pretends to think and ata the rest of ws expect hin to do, He tells ws that he & fighting stcording to the meal war lan: he doesnot aim at city, he grants querer to sldcm ying to surrender, he never tortures prone, and 40 on, These ‘aims are tre o fale, and though i isnot easy to judge them (nor i he war plan rely so simple it important to make he fort, Indeed, if we cll oureves eral men aid wornen, we mt sake the efor, andthe evidence i that we replay do so, TE we ad all become reals lik the Athenian generis oie Hobbits ina state of mr, there would be an end hike te both meray aed Inpocsy. We woud simply tell one another, rutaly and diet, what we wanted todo or have done: But the truth b thi one of the things most of us want, even in wari to actor to sem 10 ct morally. And we wan hat, most simply, becanse we know what ‘morality means (st least, we Enow what i is generally thought © mean). It's that meaning that 1 want to explore inthis book not s0 ‘auch i general character, but defied application to the com uct of war. Tam going to assume throughout that we relly dost within 2 moral world that pater desis realy re felt problematic, agonizing, and that tis as to do withthe stature oF that word that langage relets the moral world ae ives acces tot and finally that our undentanding ofthe mort woeab lary i sufcently common and sable 1 that shared judgments ae pose. Perhaps there are other words to whose inhabits ‘he argments Tam going to make would seem incomprchensile tnd bizare. But no soch people are ily to vead this book. And tty own readers find my sgements incomprehensible od Bizet that wl not be because of the impowilty of moral coum 6 the inconstant sigication of the words I use, but because of my ‘ow failte to grasp and expound or comon moray. The Crime of War Bm iy ona idl opt, Wa aon joe ti Sa Bh toes to te ean tate ave ft tne ty ith ce othe mene toy ap The ft df odgnet asa chaser we sy ha pa cc or ana Tend ave wey at the nt eng foi ety eet Mel wes mae te ices stato pepaton eiguing ea Blom, eat a em poe, pew, Be pa a tice pt to dep two Jaro alm reqs fo tate pment aoa sgpeion rd steno Blo ‘ot fhe ocrance o elton ofthe coma ond poe fas of eaggment The two st of uagnet se egealy inpndet psy pase for aj wat be ght pty nd fr ana wt be ohn st sce sire a But th ndpendence ough our views ofp Sear ras alten fern (0 tet, # vation pskag ities inet comm apyenion ot agpeive wot ae veel sty. ph ages, te eae ett mora anda) ret The ea of fora Seto and rn eo he Beat of ht x po ie eel iyo Tris my pupor foe gar wbl, bot snes dolion & the pt oa opi ty cig rpm cape, oe fo get a we mean Shon Seaytat race tbe a wed tel | ‘Tir Monat Reatary or Wax to plein iy it that there ae rues of engagement that apply ren to sols whose wars are enim, Th chapter intodsere Part Two, where will examine in deta the nature of the cle, Akscribe the appropriate fonms of resistance, and consider te ends that sodien and statesmen may legitimately seek in Biting ft tats. The next chapter introduces Pett Thee where I wil cst the lpitimate means of warfare, the substantive rues and show how thee rates apply in combat conditions and how they ae ads Se by “military neces.” Only then wilt be possible fo contrnt ‘he tension between ends and means, fra Beltn a jun bell, 1am notsute whether the moral ely of war twhelly coherent, but forthe moment I need not say anything about thats enough that it has a tecgnizable and relatively table shape, that pte fe connected and disconnected in temas and ately stable ways. We have made itt, not aviary, bat for goed reasons. It reects our understanding of tater and ols the rotagonists of war, and of combat its ental expense "The tems of that undestanding are my immediate subject mation ‘They ae simtaneoosly the historical product of and the neces ‘sary condition for the ential judgments that we make every dye they fc the nature of war asa moral (and an immorl)enterpri The Logie of War ‘Wig se wong to begins wat? We kno the answer to wel People get ke, and oem in lng aumen, Wr shel Bat 5 neetay to iy more than ta, for nr Hea abst wer in foal and abo he onda of len depend vey mache ow people get lle and om who thee people te Then, por ap the bt way to decib the ere of na iene ey that ht ar o limi at ether of tee point pee ne Ech wrth vey conceivable bral, nd all fone of pope th Altnction of ae or sex or mot contin are Med. THe ee war blianey summed wp inthe fst chapter of Ral on awit’ On Wer and though hrm edees a Clase wit Bought wa serine, he has ctainly Tol other poe to thks. es hi nly Som (ether ahs cae ‘The Crimeof War tions) that have shaped the ideas of hit successor, and so itis ‘wrth conidting them i some deta “The Argument of Ker von Clawseite “Wari an act of force.” Chusewite writes,“ which theo: setcaly cam have no Imi" The tea of war cars with it for fim the idea of lmidssness, whatever actual retains. are ob served in thi or that soeety” If we imapine 2 war fought, 36 it sere in a social vacuum, unafected ty “acidental” fac, it Soult be fought with no estat at alin the weapont wre the Tactics adopted, the people attacked, of answhere te. For inl ‘Sy conduct knows no inns limits nari t posible to vee er notion of wats sto incrpuate thor ext moral cvs that Clanewit sometimes eal “pilanthrop,” "We can never Introduce x modifying principle into the phisophy of wat wit ‘cot committing an abvrdity.” The move extreme the battle i, then, the move general and intense the wolence employed on one side and the other, the closer to war in the conceptual ese "aso. ete wat") it. And thee can'be ao imaginable act of olece, Sowever teacherous or eral that falls outside of war, thot ‘ota, for the loge of wat simply ss steady thrust toward ‘mon extremity. Tht i why st s0 awful (though Clavsewite oes not tel os this) to Set the pacer going: the aggesor ‘sponsible fr all the conequeness of the ating he Begins. In atclar ease, t may not be pale to know these consequences ‘= advance, but they ate always potentially tebe, "When you sorted fo fore,” General Eseahower once sid," you dit sow where you were going. Ifyou got deeper anid deter, thee ‘= just mo mie except. the Limitations of force sel “The loge of wat, acordng to Claosewits, work in this way ech ofthe adversaries forces the hand ofthe then” What 1e- sls is a “reciprocal action,” 2 continuow exclation, in which ether side is guilty even if i sets fit, since every act can be ‘led and almost certainly is preemptive. "War lends toward the (eroot exertion of Fores,” and that means toward inrestng ruth ewes, since “the ruthless of free who shri fem no ‘mnount of bloodshed mst gain an advantage his opponent Gos ‘nt do the same" And so hs opponent, driven by what Thacy Bes and Hobs cll “2 nccesty of mature,” does the same, ‘matching the ruthlessness ofthe other side whenever he can, But ‘his deeription, though is 2 utefal account of how escalation 5 ‘Tue Monat Restary oF WaK ‘ots, i open to the tc that Ihave aleady made. AS soon swe fect on some concrete exe of militny and moral decison: ‘aking, we enter would Dat govemed not by abstract tend. ‘cies but by human choice. The ctu press toatd exa ‘on are preter ere, Hs thee, ely co overwhelming to lene ‘po room for manewer. War no doubt ae often eeelate) Bt they ae abo (sometimes) fought at aly steady lev of lence ‘nd brutality, and these level ate (sometimes) Tal low, Glawsewite rant this, though without eaendeing his com aitment tothe absclote: War, he write, may be a thiog which ‘sometimes wat ima greater, sometimes ina leer degree And again, “There can be wars ofall degees of importance and egy, fom a war of extermination down toa mee sate of armed obsertion." Somewhere between these tvo, I supp, we beg to s,s fi anything goes, and so on, When we tlk thot, we ate not referring to the general linitiesess of war, Dut 6 particular escalation, particular ats of fore. No one hat ever, ‘apeiened “absolute Rac" In thi or that sige, we endore (or commit) this or tat brutality, which ean always be desc} Im concrete tems, It is the same with hell. cannot conceptaaie infinite pain without thinking of whipr snd scorpio, hot inn, ‘other people, Nave, what is that we think abowt when we sy, ‘wars hel? What aspects of warfare lead us to regard its iltiaton saccininal act ‘The ame questions can be introduced in another way. Wa is ‘ot usefully described as an act of force without some specication of the context in which the act takes place and fom which t eves its meaning, Here the case ithe sme at with other human sactintes (politics and commerce, for example): its not what people do the physical motions they go through, that ar ec, ‘but the institutions, practices, conventions tat they make. Hence the social and historical condition that "medify” wat ate not to be considered as accidental or extemal to war isl, for wats social creation. At parler points in tm, it takes haps i pe ular ways, and sometimes atest in ways that resist the “ton exertion of forces” What var and wht i notwat w infact Something that people decide (I don't sean by taking te]. As ‘oth anthopolopcal and histoal accounts suggest, they can de Gide, and in a considerable variety of cltral settings they hare

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