The historical approach and the ‘war of ethics within the ethics of war’

Braun, Christian Nikolaus

Abstract

Contemporary just war thinking has mostly been split into two competing camps, namely, Michael Walzer’s approach and its revisionist critics. While Walzerians employ a casuistical method, most revisionists resort to analytical philosophy’s reflective equilibrium. Importantly, besides employing different methods, the two sides also disagree on substantive issues. This article focuses on one such issue, the moral equality of combatants, arguing that while a methodological reconciliation between the two camps is impossible, contemporary debate would benefit from a ‘third-way’ approach. Presenting James Turner Johnson’s historical method as such an approach, the article suggests that while revisionists are correct in considering the symmetry thesis as ethically indefensible, in order to arrive at this judgement, it is not necessary to employ far-fetched thought experiments and the use of historical cases is preferable. The root cause of Walzer’s problematic reasoning vis-à-vis the symmetry thesis, the historical approach reveals, is his uneasy relationship with the just war tradition. Contributing to a deeper understanding of the respective approaches’ differences, the article seeks to move the focus of contemporary just war away from a narrow intra-disciplinary divide and towards an engagement with substantive questions.

Citation

Braun, C. N. (2018). The historical approach and the ‘war of ethics within the ethics of war’. Journal of International Political Theory, 14(3), 349-366. https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088218786306

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jul 18, 2018
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Aug 1, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 1, 2018
• Journal: Journal of International Political Theory
• Print ISSN: 1755-0882
• Electronic ISSN: 1755-1722
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 349-366
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088218786306
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1353167