Philosophy East and West

Several prominent interpreters have suggested that early Confucians would support what we now call “humanitarian intervention,” albeit with some particularly Confucian nuances. It is argued here that this is at least misleading. It is maintained that the key criterion for the appropriate use of offensive military force implied in the early Confucian texts is such overwhelming support, on account of one’s moral virtue, that little resistance is encountered, and thus the carnage associated with genuine war is not required. Since this condition is not actually encountered in real circumstances, early Confucianism can provide support for resisting calls to use offensive warfare for humanitarian purposes. First the focus is on Mencius, and interpretations of Mencius’s view of humanitarian intervention, especially that of Daniel A. Bell. It is then argued that Xunzi holds a view similar to that of Mencius. This suggests that there is a relatively consistent early Confucian perspective on warfare that is, in its practical implications, more pacifistic than recent commentaries suggest.