ABSTRACT
As a further example of an ethical issue, here is war. Most people today would probably agree that war is among the worst things, indeed on a large scale probably the worst thing, that humans can inflict on themselves. In light of this, we will set forth the traditional “just war” arguments, and positions to the left and right of them, pacifism and militarism. The latter, the idea that war can actually be healthy for a society, evokes a consideration of what might be called the “mythic” face of war, the way in which combat and the “warrior ethic” can produce “high,” intense states of consciousness that have an appeal of their own comparable to that of religion. We present this side of war in some fullness, together with war’s horror, then recall how non-violent “fighting” may produce the same kind of “high” in participants Lastly, following a number of thinkers beginning with William James, we will look at possible moral equivalents to war.
