Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations

by Michael Walzer

Overview

“A classic in the field” (New York Times), this is a penetrating investigation into moral and ethical questions raised by war, drawing on examples from antiquity to the present.

Just and Unjust Wars has forever changed how we think about the ethics of conflict. In this modern classic, political philosopher Michael Walzer examines the moral issues that arise before, during, and after the wars we fight. Reaching from the Athenian attack on Melos, to the Mai Lai massacre, to the war in Afghanistan and beyond, Walzer mines historical and contemporary accounts and the testimony of participants, decision makers, and victims to explain when war is justified and what ethical limitations apply to those who wage it.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465052707
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	08/11/2015
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	416
Lexile:	1280L (what's this?)
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Michael Walzer is professor emeritus of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, and the author of many widely heralded books, including Spheres of Injustice, Exodus and Revolution, and The Company of Critics.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Fifth Edition xiii

Preface to the First Edition xxiii

Acknowledgments xxx

Part 1 The Moral Reality of War

1 Against "Realism" 3

The Realist Argument 4

The Melian Dialogue

Strategy and Morality 13

Historical Relativism 16

Three Accounts of Agincourt

2 The Crime of War 21

The Logic of War 22

The Argument of Karl von Clausewitz

The Limit of Consent 25

The Tyranny of War 29

General Sherman and the Burning of Atlanta

3 The Rules of War 34

The Moral Equality of Soldiers 34

The Case of Hitler's Generals

Two Sorts of Rules 41

The War Convention 44

The Example of Surrender

Part 2 The Theory of Aggression

4 Law And Order In International Society 51

Aggression 51

The Rights of Political Communities 53

The Case of Alsace-Lorraine

The Legalist Paradigm 58

Unavoidable Categories 63

Karl Marx and the Franco-Prussian War

The Argument for Appeasement 67

Czechoslovakia and the Munich Principle Finland

5 Anticipations 74

Preventive War and the Balance of Power 75

The War of the Spanish Succession

Pre-emptive Strikes 80

The Six Day War

6 Interventions 86

Self-Determination and Self-Help 87

The Argument of John Stuart Mill

Secession 91

The Hungarian Revolution

Civil War 95

The American War in Vietnam

Humanitarian Intervention 100

Cuba, 1898, and Bangladesh, 1971

7 War's Ends, and the Importance Of Winning 109

Unconditional Surrender 111

Allied Policy In World War II

Justice in Settlements 117

The Korean War

Part 3 The War Convention

8 War's Means and the Importance of Fighting Well 127

Utility and Proportionality 128

The Argument of Henry Sidgwick

Human Rights 133

The Rape of the Italian Women

9 Noncombatant Immunity and Military Necessity 138

The Status of Individuals 138

Naked Soldiers

The Nature of Necessity (1) 144

Submarine Warfare: The Laconia Affair

Double Effect 152

Bombardment in Korea

The Bombing Of Occupied France and the Vemork Raid

10 War Against Civilians: Sieges and Blockades 160

Coercion and Responsibility 161

The Siege of Jerusalem, 72 A.D.

The Right to Leave 165

The Siege of Leningrad

Taking Aim and the Doctrine of Double Effect 170

The British Blockade of Germany

11 Guerrilla War 176

Resistance to Military Occupation 176

A Partisan Attack

The Rights of Guerrilla Fighters 179

The Rights of Civilian Supporters 186

The American "Rules of Engagement" in Vietnam

12 Terrorism 197

The Political Code 197

The Russian Populists, the Ira, and the Stern Gang

The Vietcong Assassination Campaign

Violence and Liberation 204

Jean-Paul Sartre and the Battle of Algiers

13 Reprisals 207

Deterrence Without Retribution 207

The FFI Prisoners Annecy

The Problem of Peacetime Reprisals 216

The Attack On Khibye and the Beirut Raid

Part 4 Dilemmas of War

14 Winning and Fighting Well 225

"Asinine Ethics" 225

Chairman Mao and the Battle of the River Hung

The Sliding Scale and the Argument from Extremity 228

15 Aggression and Neutrality 233

The Right to Be Neutral 234

The Nature of Necessity (2) 238

The Rape of Belgium

The Sliding Scale 242

Winston Churchill and Norwegian Neutrality

16 Supreme Emergency 250

The Nature of Necessity (3) 250

Overriding the Rules of War 254

The Decision to Bomb German Cities

The Limits of Calculation 262

Hiroshima

17 Nuclear Deterrence 268

The Problem of Immoral Threats 268

Limited Nuclear War 274

The Argument of Paul Ramsey

Part 5 The Question of Responsibility

18 The Crime of Aggression: Political Leaders and Citizens 287

The World of Officials 289

Nuremberg: "The Ministries Case"

Democratic Responsibilities 296

The American People and the War in Vietnam

19 War Crimes: Soldiers and Their Officers 304

In the Heat of Battle 306

Two Accounts of Killing Prisoners

Superior Orders 309

The My Lai Massacre

Command Responsibility 316

General Bradley and the Bombing of St. Lô

The Case of General Yamashita

The Nature of Necessity (4) 323

The Dishonoring of Arthur Harris

Conclusion 325

Afterword: Nonviolence and the Theory of War 329

Postscript: A Defense of Just War Theory 335

Notes 347

Index 366

Editorial Reviews

A magnificent book, an honor to its writer.

New York Review of Books

A reprint with a new preface of Walzer's respected treatment of the morality of war. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"A magnificent book, an honor to its writer...a book that makes for a return of civilized discussion of the question of the morality of war."—New York Review of Books

"A passionate defense of the old principle of non-combatant immunity.... [Walzer] is both thorough and persuasive in his exploration of a very intricate subject."—Washington Post

"A classic in the field."—New York Times

"One of the most significant modern restatements of just-war thinking."—Nation

"A clear, humane, and startingly original survey of the moral issues that complicate modern war-making."—Atlantic

From the Publisher