A Philosophy of War: Why We Fight
War - what is it good for? The best-selling author of A Philosophy of Walking, Frédéric Gros returns with a book on this highly topical subject.

According to one wag, war ‘died in Hiroshima’ more than half a century ago. And yet it has never gone away.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, they said, it's the return of real war, with its atrocities, its horrors, its violence. But what is a real war? Was the violence we had been witnessing in of the war on terror, the implosion of Yugoslavia, Israel's destruction in the Middle East, or the war on women not real war?

By calling on the great political philosophers, from Plato to Marx, via Machiavelli and Hobbes, this book attempts to answer this question, along with a series of others: what is a just war? What moral forces are involved in a conflict? Does the state make war, or does war make the state? Finally, after exploring the meanings and stakes of the spectre of ‘total’ war, he tackles the ultimate question: why war?
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A Philosophy of War: Why We Fight
War - what is it good for? The best-selling author of A Philosophy of Walking, Frédéric Gros returns with a book on this highly topical subject.

According to one wag, war ‘died in Hiroshima’ more than half a century ago. And yet it has never gone away.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, they said, it's the return of real war, with its atrocities, its horrors, its violence. But what is a real war? Was the violence we had been witnessing in of the war on terror, the implosion of Yugoslavia, Israel's destruction in the Middle East, or the war on women not real war?

By calling on the great political philosophers, from Plato to Marx, via Machiavelli and Hobbes, this book attempts to answer this question, along with a series of others: what is a just war? What moral forces are involved in a conflict? Does the state make war, or does war make the state? Finally, after exploring the meanings and stakes of the spectre of ‘total’ war, he tackles the ultimate question: why war?
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A Philosophy of War: Why We Fight

A Philosophy of War: Why We Fight

by Frédéric Gros
A Philosophy of War: Why We Fight

A Philosophy of War: Why We Fight

by Frédéric Gros

Hardcover

$17.95 
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Overview

War - what is it good for? The best-selling author of A Philosophy of Walking, Frédéric Gros returns with a book on this highly topical subject.

According to one wag, war ‘died in Hiroshima’ more than half a century ago. And yet it has never gone away.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, they said, it's the return of real war, with its atrocities, its horrors, its violence. But what is a real war? Was the violence we had been witnessing in of the war on terror, the implosion of Yugoslavia, Israel's destruction in the Middle East, or the war on women not real war?

By calling on the great political philosophers, from Plato to Marx, via Machiavelli and Hobbes, this book attempts to answer this question, along with a series of others: what is a just war? What moral forces are involved in a conflict? Does the state make war, or does war make the state? Finally, after exploring the meanings and stakes of the spectre of ‘total’ war, he tackles the ultimate question: why war?

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781804296028
Publisher: Verso Books
Publication date: 01/13/2026
Pages: 112
Product dimensions: 7.80(w) x 5.08(h) x (d)

About the Author

Frédéric Gros is both philosopher and writer. In France, he was the leading editor of Michel Foucault's works and lectures. He teaches political humanities at Sciences-po Paris. His first major success was a book on walking (A Philosophy of Walking), translated into some twenty languages.

Table of Contents

Introduction: This Time, It Really is War
1 Really a ‘Return’ of War?
2 Heroism and Barbarism
3 What is a ‘Just’ War?
4 The State Makes War and War Makes the State
5 The Idea of Total War
6 Why War?
Conclusion: And War for the Sake of What Peace…
Index
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