Waging War : A New Philosophical Introduction

There is now a major new interest in ethical issues about warfare emerging from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conflict in Syria and Libya, the war on terror, and the introduction of new weapon systems, such as unmanned drones. In this re-written version of the author's classic text, Waging War, Ian Clark asks probing questions about how we think about war, the changes it is undergoing, and what exactly it is we wage when we wage war. Waging War argues that much of what passes for ethical debate is actually a set of disagreements about what counts as war or not. This philosophical introduction provides a critical review of the various different ways in which the ethical debates are already framed, the questions that arise from these debates, and seeks to bring greater clarity and precision to the important moral arguments about political violence. Cover 1 Waging War: A New Philosophical Introduction 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Preface 8 Contents 10 1: Ethics and the Philosophy of War 12 The Argument 15 Some Initial Problems 18 The Structure 20 2: War: Concept and Conduct 24 Framing War: Legitimacy and Justness 26 Concepts of War 34 War as instinctive violence 34 War as divination or legal trial 35 War as disease 35 War as a political instrument of the state 36 War as the regulator of international society 37 Concepts and the Nature of Rules 37 Is war a rule-governed activity at all? 38 If it is rule-governed, which types of rules apply? 39 The fact that there are rules, or the substance of the specific rules? 40 Conclusion 42 3: Concepts of Just War 44 Origins 45 Content 47 Development 50 Revival 58 Conclusion 60 4: Concepts of Limited War 62 Clausewitz 64 Forms of Limitation 68 Just and Limited War Compared 73 Similarities between just and limited war 73 Contrasts between just and limited war 75 Conclusion 79 5: War and Political Violence 80 War and the State 82 Distinguishing War 88 The Regulation of Irregular Warfare 91 War, Terrorism, and the War on Terror 98 Conclusion 104 6: War: Symmetries and Asymmetries 106 Modes of Discrimination 108 Political discrimination 109 Institutional discrimination 110 Moral discrimination 111 Threat discrimination 111 Immunities, Liabilities, and Symmetries 112 Compromise between Principle and Practice 117 Conclusion 123 7: War, Technology, and Conceptual Change 126 Weapons and War 127 Nuclear Weapons 132 Drones 137 The challenge to the concept of war 142 The problem of absence of mutuality of risks between combatants 144 The problem of risk transfer to civilians 145 Conclusion 146 8: Ethics and the Practice of War 148 Contesting War 149 A Praxis of War 151 Just and Limited War 153 References 156 Index 166 What exactly is it we wage when we wage war? This is the crucial question addressed in this largely rewritten edition of the author's classic text. The range of possible answers to it has already framed much of the ethical discourse that can be conducted about war, as well as about other uses of force. Only when some of those fundamental issues have been clarified can we then safely foray into the dense ethical thicket that surrounds this topic. The book shows how recent developments in warfare, particularly related to new technologies and asymmetries, have disturbed traditional paradigms. Ethics and the philosophy of war -- War : concept and conduct -- Concepts of just war -- Concepts of limited war -- War and political violence -- War : symmetries and asymmetries -- War, technology, and conceptual change -- Ethics and the practice of war. Ian Clark. Previous edition published as: Waging war : a philosophical introduction in 1988. Includes bibliographical references (pages 145-153) and index. Présentation de l'éditeur : "What exactly is it we wage when we wage war? This is the crucial question addressed in this largely rewritten edition of the author's classic text. The range of possible answers to it has already framed much of the ethical discourse that can be conducted about war, as well as about other uses of force. Only when some of those fundamental issues have been clarified can we then safely foray into the dense ethical thicket that surrounds this topic. The book shows how recent developments in warfare, particularly related to new technologies and asymmetries, have disturbed traditional paradigms."