On War and Morality

Robert L. Holmes

Published by Princeton University Press 1989

On War and Morality

Robert L. Holmes

Volume 53 in the series Studies in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy

In the series Princeton Legacy Library

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400860142

Overview
Contents

About this book

The threat to the survival of humankind posed by nuclear weapons has been a frightening and essential focus of public debate for the last four decades and must continue to be so if we are to avoid destroying ourselves and the natural world around us. One unfortunate result of preoccupation with the nuclear threat, however, has been a new kind of "respectability" accorded to conventional war. In this radical and cogent argument for pacifism, Robert Holmes asserts that all war--not just nuclear war--has become morally impermissible in the modern world. Addressing a wide audience of informed and concerned readers, he raises dramatic questions about the concepts of "political realism" and nuclear deterrence, makes a number of persuasive suggestions for nonviolent alternatives to war, and presents a rich panorama of thinking about war from St. Augustine to Reinhold Niebuhr and Herman Kahn.

Holmes's positions are compellingly presented and will provoke discussion both among convinced pacifists and among those whom he calls "militarists." "Militarists," we realize after reading this book, include the majority of us who live a friendly and peaceful personal life while supporting a system which, if Holmes is correct, guarantees war and risks eventual human extinction.

Originally published in 1989.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
PREFACE Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
ONE. Violence and the Perspective of Morality Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
Two. Political Realism: The Challenge to Morality in International Affairs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	50
THREE. Reason of State, Military Necessity, and Domestic Security Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
FOUR. St. Augustine on the Justification of War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
FIVE. Can War Be Morally Justified? The Just War Theory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
Six. The Killing of Innocent Persons in Wartime Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
SEVEN. Nuclear Deterrence: The Illusion of Security Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	214
EIGHT. The Alternative to War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	260
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	303

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