Topics War

Question Is it possible for a war to be fought in which both sides are justified? Or is every war necessarily problematic in the sense that at least one party must be wrong?

Accepted:
December 10, 2009

Comments

The short answer I think is, yes, one could imagine situations where all the participants in a war had strong reasons for participating. A more insightful answer to your question, however, will depend on exactly how one understands the ethics of war and peace.

For example, if it turns out that pacifism is correct (for more on this doctrine, see http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pacifism), then the answer to your question may be--depending on the exact version of pacifism that is true--"no" because it turns out to be impossible for any act of warfare to be justified.

On the other hand, if just war theory is correct (for this, see http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/war/#2), then one can imagine situations where multiple parties to a war were justified according to the rules of jus ad bellum. Since those rules are pretty strict, however, in practice I imagine that this rarely occurs, if it ever does. (It is possible, however, under this doctrine -- it is not the case that "every war is necessarily problematic" in the sense that you ask about.)

Another perspective that provides a clear answer to your question is that of realism within international relations. I don't view this as a philosophical theory or ethical doctrine, but rather a perspective on international relations that is extremely influential among scholars and practitioners within that field and that aims (among other things) to show that ethical argumentation of the sort pacifists and just war theorists wish to use is inappropriate for understanding and assessing international relations. (For more on this perspective, see, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_in_International_relations). According to this view, war can be justified by states' national interests and needs for security and, alas, in our world of scarcity, unequal distribution of resources, and cultural and ethnic divisions, conflicts among those items occur frequently and so it would be fairly common for both parties in a war to act with justification.

Question Is it possible for a war to be fought in which both sides are justified? Or is every war necessarily problematic in the sense that at least one party must be wrong? Accepted:December 10, 2009

Question Is it possible for a war to be fought in which both sides are justified? Or is every war necessarily problematic in the sense that at least one party must be wrong?

Accepted:
December 10, 2009