Reflections on War and Peace and the Constitution

by George Anastaplo

Overview

The attitudes and assumptions of different cultures and historical periods toward war and the maintenance of peace are reviewed by recalling authors who include Euripides, Sophocles, Plato, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Hobbes, and Zola. The challenges of war, peace, and national security for and by Americans are examined, and documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of 1787. The lives and thought of eminent Americans are also recalled (including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt), as well as the challenges posed by incidents such as the Dreyfus Affair and monstrosities such as the Second World War Holocaust. The Appendixes reinforce these inquiries by providing critical documents in American history and interviews with a Holocaust survivor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739193273
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/21/2014
Pages:	382
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

George Anastaplo (1925–2014) was lecturer in the liberal arts at the University of Chicago, professor of law at Loyola University of Chicago, and professor emeritus of political science and of philosophy at Dominican University.

Table of Contents

Part One 1.War & Peace in the Bible 2.Who Were the Greeks—and Why Do They Matter? 3.Sedition in Wartime: Thersites and the Trojan War 4.Justice and Nobility: The Problem of Antigone 5.War & Peace and Socratic Constitutionalism 6.On Law For and Among Peoples 7.On the Projection of Force to the Other Side of the World 8.Victory, Defeat, and National Morale 9.William Shakespeare and the Uncomfortable Facts of War 10.War & Peace and the Declaration of Independence 11.The War Power and the Constitution 12.The Organic Laws of the United States 13.On Deliberation and War Part Two 1.The Separation of Powers 2.The Risks and Rewards of Civil War 3.The Dreyfus Affair and the War Power 4.The Great War—A Monumental Folly 5.Woodrow Wilson and His Fourteen Points 6.On the Defense of the Allied Policy for Bombing German Cities (1944–1945) 7.The Presidency, Especially in Time of War 8.Congress, the President and the Constitution in Wartime 9.September Eleventh: On Diagnosing an Addiction 10.The Prospects and Perils of Homeland Security 11.Freedom of Speech in “Wartime” 12.Fearfulness and the Search for an Elusive “Security” 13. Philosophy and the Prospects at Death Appendices A.The Declaration of Independence (1776) B.The United States Constitution (1787) C.The Amendments to the United States Constitution (1791–1992) Introduction to Appendixes D, E, and F D.Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! E.Are You Listening? F.I Can’t Figure It Out to This Day

Editorial Reviews

The crown jewels of American politics rests in the United States Constitution. Following the tradition of such formidable scholars as Alexander Meiklejohn, Harry Kalven, W. W. Crosskey, and Philip Kurland, and drawing heavily on great thinkers from Homer to Aristotle and from Hobbes to Kojève and Strauss, George Anastaplo in his Reflections series discloses the many riches of our founding document (and of the great books). He discovers new treasures and thrusts old nuggets of wisdom into a fascinating, novel light. This volume is a gold mine for explorers into the meaning of prudence regarding war and peace.

J. Harvey Lomax

This culminating volume of a final series of essays is in many ways the culmination of George Anastaplo’s life’s work. The relevance of the Greek example to the quandaries of our present wars, including the Iraq war, is clearer than ever here, and the plea for reason in moments of passion is stronger than ever. On Sir Christopher Wren’s tomb in St. Paul’s, one of his greatest designs, is a plaque that simply says, Si monumentum requires, circumspice—If you seek a monument, look around you. This book says that about George Anastaplo’s entire life, and also about our own need to rethink our involvement in war and peace and the Constitution.

Wendy Doniger