ABSTRACT

Thereis,weshallclaim,averyprecisesenseinwhichthosewho arguethecasefornucleardeterrencedon'tknowwhattheyare talkingabout.Thatistosay,thereisnoconceptof'deterrence'- norationalgroundorcoherentjustification-whichcouldpossiblysupporttheirarguments.(Forfurtherdiscussionofthese issues,seeNorris1986a,1986b,1987;Chilton1985;Blakeand Pole1983,1984).Whatwefindinitsplaceisalanguageof entirelysuasive,rhetoricalor-inspeech-actterms-performativecharacterwhichachievesitspurposebyevadingthe requirementsofrationaldiscourse.Thatthislanguagehasso largelyprevaileduponpublicopinionandbecomethemajorcurrencyof'informed'nucleardebateisinnosenseameasureofits hard-headedrealismoritsgraspofcurrentpolitico-strategic aims.Thoseaimsarethemselvesincoherenttotheextentthat theyarebasedonconfusionsintrinsictotheso-called'logic'of deterrence.