Just and Unjust Wars
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Product Description
Review
"A magnificent book, an honor to its writer... a book that makes for a return of civilised 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... (He) is both thorough and persuasive in his exploration of a very intricate subject." Washington Post"
Product Description
This is a classic treatise on the ethics of war - now with a new preface addressing the war in Iraq. This classic work examines the issues surrounding military theory, war crimes and the spoils of war from the Athenian attack on Melos to the My Lai massacre. Subsequent editions have commented on more recent conflicts including the Balkans war and the first Iraq war. "Just and Unjust Wars" examines a variety of conflicts in order to understand exactly why, according to Walzer, "the argument about war and justice is still a political and moral necessity." Walzer's classic work draws on historical illustrations and the testimony of participants - decision makers and victims alike - to examine the moral issues of warfare.
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First Sentence
For as long as men and women have talked about war, they have talked about it in terms of right and wrong. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
For as long as men and women have talked about war, they have talked about it in terms of right and wrong. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an erudite work examining the philosophical subtelties and ethical issues that war evokes. Any one seriously interested in war, applied ethics, political philosophy, and international relations should be familiar with the arguments Walzer uses. The historical examples are standard dilemmas and problems which are useful in class discussions in philosophy as well as history. The only critique I have of the book (which I often use for my own philosophical writing) is that Walzer's ethical examination of war ends with nuclear war--in this I think he is wrong, we should not stop our analysis even with the nightmare scenario of a holocaust, for that is to give the moral hand over to those who would use nuclear arms. The book is challenging and insightful and deserves further reprints.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book revived interest to just war theory and created influential debate about moral permissibility of war. Walzer develops his own theory about just war theory. It can be summarized as: War is just when it is fought only as a) self-defence b) in order to create country for a nation under foreign rule c) counter-intervention in order to repeal effect of original foreign intervention d) humanitarian intervention to stop grave an widespread human right violations. Walzer stresses also importance of rule of non-combatant immunity. Book is easy to read, without difficult terminology and it has many illustrative historical examples. I recommend this book to all who are interested in morality of war.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
At first sight, I did not like Walzers book. I found his frequent citations of novels, essays etc. unnecessarily pompous and somewhat annoying. However, Walzers book is actually by no means inaccessible to the casual reader, and his analysis is in general clear and properly thought out.
Walzer considers many aspects of the ethics of war. Most of the book is concerned with the question of when and how wars may be just, although considerable time is also given to the question of how a war - just or unjust - may be fought justly. Among Walzers historical examples are the Franco-Prussian war, The six-day war, the Vietnam war, the Korean war and World war II. His themes range widely, including when agression in the face of anticipation is justified, when interventions in already existing wars are justified, whether humanitarian interventions are justified, to name a few. Walzer also considers the rather interesting cases of guerilla war and terrorism, and gives a good deal of attention to the question of justifying civilian casualties.
Walzers book is not meant to be, and cannot in any sense be considered, the final word on the ethics of war. Several of Walzers arguments may be applied to other of his historical cases to obtain different conclusions - one prominent example is the bombing of German cities during the second world war, which seems rather similar to terrorism.
What can be said definitively, however, is that Walzers book is generally well-written and well-argued, provides ample food for thought and clearly illustrates many of the dilemmas of war which are sensed by most people by casual inspection, but which may be difficult to elucidate without considerable thought.
Walzer considers many aspects of the ethics of war. Most of the book is concerned with the question of when and how wars may be just, although considerable time is also given to the question of how a war - just or unjust - may be fought justly. Among Walzers historical examples are the Franco-Prussian war, The six-day war, the Vietnam war, the Korean war and World war II. His themes range widely, including when agression in the face of anticipation is justified, when interventions in already existing wars are justified, whether humanitarian interventions are justified, to name a few. Walzer also considers the rather interesting cases of guerilla war and terrorism, and gives a good deal of attention to the question of justifying civilian casualties.
Walzers book is not meant to be, and cannot in any sense be considered, the final word on the ethics of war. Several of Walzers arguments may be applied to other of his historical cases to obtain different conclusions - one prominent example is the bombing of German cities during the second world war, which seems rather similar to terrorism.
What can be said definitively, however, is that Walzers book is generally well-written and well-argued, provides ample food for thought and clearly illustrates many of the dilemmas of war which are sensed by most people by casual inspection, but which may be difficult to elucidate without considerable thought.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Amazing overview of Just War Theory
Just and unjust wars is a comprehensive look at all the aspects of the just war theory. Though one could say that Walzer has a somewhat narrow view, on the whole it is a very... Read more
Published on 2 May 2010 by L. L. Zoetmulder
Just and Unjust Wars
Interesting book, but although the examples mentioned do nicely buttress 20'th Century 'morality'; they are overwhelmingly drawn from recent times. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2010 by C. W. Bradbury
Excellent analysis of moral issues raised by war
This book is superb. Among other topics, it considers the morality of initiating armed force, the moral limits on the use of force in wartime, and individual responsibiity for... Read more
Published on 1 Mar 1999
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