Yoo-hoo! Yooganda?

Professor Walzer would like to revive the ancient and reasonable distinction between just and unjust wars in order to justify organized violence and regulation of it. Probably he was inspired, wittingly or not, by his radical or liberal friends around Harvard, torn between their opposition to the Vietnam War, which he shared, and their instinctive support for Israel. Rehabilitating the distinction between just and unjust wars meets the problem of apparent inconsistency. It will indeed help all but the most spaced-out pacifists.

Although a professor of government, Walzer addresses his problem as if it were a purely moral one: When is a government justified in resorting to war? How much may it harm enemy soldiers, or civilians, or innocent bystanders? What means are permissible, and proportionate to the political and military ends?

EH

About the Author

Ernest van den Haag

Professor Walzer would like to revive the ancient and reasonable distinction between just and unjust wars in order to justify organized violence and regulation of it. Probably he was inspired, wittingly or not, by his radical or liberal friends around Harvard, torn between their opposition to the Vietnam War, which he shared, and their instinctive support for Israel. Rehabilitating the distinction between just and unjust wars meets the problem of apparent inconsistency. It will indeed help all but the most spaced-out pacifists.

Although a professor of government, Walzer addresses his problem as if it were a purely moral one: When is a government justified in resorting to war? How much may it harm enemy soldiers, or civilians, or innocent bystanders? What means are permissible, and proportionate to the political and military ends?