PHIL 494 PHILOSOPHY OF WAR AND PEACE

This covers chapters 1-4 of “Just and Unjust Wars” by Michael Walzer.

10 questions:

• What does Walzer mean by the title of the chapter “Against Realism”? Explain the meaning of the central thesis of the chapter. Describe in detail the realism of the Athenian generals in Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War as well as of Hobbes who translated this work, contrast it with Walzer’s position citing statements from the chapter.
• Provide Walzer’s explanation of “what we mean when we say that it is a crime to begin a war”. Cite specific statements in the chapter and provide page numbers.
• Explain in your own words the “logic of war” according to Karl von Clausewitz. What is the essence of Walzer’s criticism of Clausewitz description of the logic of war? Cite the sentence in which Walzer provides his counter argument to that of Clausewitz.
• Explain what Walzer means when he says that “no one has ever experienced ‘absolute war’” on page 24?
• What does Walzer mean by the “moral equality of soldiers”? Which preconditions are necessary for soldiers, representing two opposite parties, to be regarded as morally equal. Provide specific examples. (pp. 34-41). In which case the atrocities which a person commits “are his own” and “the war is not.” Use the case of Hitler’s Generals.
• What does Walzer understand as the “ultimate tyranny of war”? (pp. 31-32)
• Explain why in international law we observe a refusal to differentiate between various kinds of aggression (compare with the differentiation of the degrees of guilt and seriousness of a crime in domestic society). What are the exact reasons for this refusal to differentiate? (pp. 51-53). Provide at least two reasons stated by Walzer.
• How does Walzer explain the rationale of the following statement: “territorial integrity is a function of national existence, not of nationalization” (p. 56-57). What establishes the integrity of a territory? When and only when can a boundary be drawn? How should the ownership of territory be expressed? (p. 57).
• Outline 6 propositions of Walzer’s theory of aggression or the legalist paradigm. (pp. 61-63). What specific implication of these propositions does Walzer highlight at the end of the section The Legalist Paradigm on p. 63 ? (USE THE SPACE ON THE NEXT PAGE!!!)
• What according to Walzer is the only reason for fighting any war? (p. 72) Why are all other wars ruled out by the legalist paradigm? What kind of wars are ruled out buy the legalist paradigm specifically? (p. 72.)