War and Peace

Any philosopher who tries to write about war faces a conundrum. For war seems to justify what the 5th commandment forbids: to kill another human being. While it is agreed that it is wrong to kill, killing an enemy in warfare often seems morally justifiable.

This is a position that so-called Just War theorists advance. They argue that there are certain conditions under which States are justified to resort to war. These can be for example, self-defence, the protection of national interests or the defence of justice and democracy.

This lecture questions this position by drawing on Kant’s Seminal work Toward Perpetual Peace. The problem is that just war theorists assume that force can bring about justice. But might is not right. Wars are essentially barbaric and cannot eliminate evil or deter future hostilities.

This lecture seeks to show that the intrinsic immorality of war generates its own distinctive set of moral demands. Once we realise that disputes cannot be resolved through force, we need recognise that there is only one alternative: we have a duty to understand war in terms of its opposite: perpetual peace.

Date | Thursday, 20th February 2025

Time | 7.00pm - 8.30pm

Location | The Synge Theatre, The Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin