MORALITY AND WAR.
Can war be just in the 21st century?
By Dr. David Fisher. Oxford University Press. 303 pages. £25.00
ISBN 978 0 199 599 240
There are two problem areas in addressing the question of the morality of war: assessing it morally, which means dispassionately; and conducting war within a recognisably moral framework.
One has to do with human reflection, the other with war itself. The problems are difficult, obviously, for war occurs when any semblance of principled conduct between nations, as expressed in normal diplomatic relations, and trade and travel, within a ‘balance of power’, breaks down.
This book addresses the second issue afresh. The just war tradition, which Part I discusses, recognises both these problems. Its proposals are correspondingly cautious and conservative. This part also reflects on virtue and the virtues, especially military virtues. It rehearses broad philosophical divisions over morality, and defends ‘virtuous consequentialism’, the view that mental states as well as outcomes are morally significant. It raises the fundamental question of whether private morality has a place in the public sphere, and whether it has a place in the sphere of war. Part II addresses the nature of war head on. The discussions are usually situated in a historical and contemporary context, within the span of Dr. David Fisher’s career. He was a senior official at the Ministry of Defence.
Anyone discussing war in this seminar-like way faces one enormous obstacle: the dispassionate discussion of a phenomenon which raises fundamental human passions. If one can persuade oneself to overcome this objection, then the book provides intelligent, informed and demanding discussion of a wide range of moral issues that modern warfare raises, such as the doctrine of pre-emption, the obeying of orders, and humanitarian intervention. It is surprising that there is relatively little on terrorism. The book will be a demanding and rewarding read for anyone interested in these issues.
