Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Just War Theory

In the 21st century, "Just War Theory" is, in a word, irrelevant. Even if we were to stipulate, for the sake of argument, that, in theory, a war could be "just," the conditions at the present time make such a theory untenable in practice. The problem is now (and, in my view, has always been) the profit motive. Profit achieved by means of fair and equitable trade is one thing; profit achieved by armed robbery is quite another.

War is big business. Arguments about "just war" are nothing but "language on holiday" as Wittgenstein would say.

1 comment:

The Grappion said...

To say nothing of the "methods" of modern warfare (i.e. bombing of cities and villages, drone attacks, large scale urban warfare; all tactics which virtually guarantee enormous civilian casualties)