Preview

Summary Of The Moral Equivalent Of War By William James

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
508 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary Of The Moral Equivalent Of War By William James
“The next dreadful thing to a battle lost is a battle won,” was once said by Duke of Wellington. Throughout history, many wars have occurred and have cause much change in the world. In the essay The Moral Equivalent of War, by William James, the same topic about war is discussed within the essay. However, William James, the author, seems like he does not approve the reasons and actions for many of the wars that have occurred. Furthermore, William seems to try to find reason and try to understand many points of view to go war. I would believe that William James would disagree with the quote because, even though he is a pacifist, he seems to try to find the reason behind going to war and knows that with winning a war, it continues to nourish a couple of human virtues. William James is a pacifist who believes that war is not the best for the world. However, it has had its negative and positive attributes to its soldiers. William believes that we should have reasons to go to war and not just try to go to war to just feel …show more content…
Some attributes that William James is describing are attributes that individuals obtain when they are at war. For example, he talks about attributes such as courage, strength, endurance etc. While many people are left behind in a war, they work in anyway to help with the war and also start to have pride, patriotic obedience, and many more attributes due to the war. “Martial virtues must be the enduring cement; intrepidity, contempt of softness, surrendering of private interest, obedience to command, must still remain the rock upon which states are built...The war-party is assuredly right in affirming and reaffirming that the martial virtues, although originally gained by the race through war, are absolute and permanent human goods.” ( James 53) These are attributes that are gained due to
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Of War Without Mercy
    • 168 Words
    • 1 Page

    Summary Of War Without Mercy

    War without Mercy: Race & power and the Pacific War. by John Dower (21 June 1938) is a historian majoring in American studies with a Harvard PhD in far Eastern language. Went on to be a professor of Japanese history. The purpose of this text was to examine how stereotypes and racism affect war. Furthermore to explain the highly heated combat, and racist representations of the opposing side.…

    • 168 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Boys Of Pointe Du Hoc, By Douglas Brinkley
    • 1667 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Boys Of Pointe Du Hoc, By Douglas Brinkley

    Within the book author Douglas Brinkley uses a speech that gives a feel for what the soldiers were going through when fighting for the freedom of their country and how it would’ve been ethical due to the conditions they had to endure at the time. This speech gives a great example of a moral philosophy know as relativist. Relativist perspective (4) is “definitions of ethical behavior are derived subjectively from the experiences of individuals and groups.” (Moulton, 98) The relativist perspective was the best philosophy to connect to the authors way of showing how the soldiers were truly hero’s during this time just doing the most ethical things they could at the time for the greats good.…

    • 1667 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bruce Dawe Poem Essay Example
    • 1014 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Bruce Dawe Poem Essay Example

    Good morning/afternoon everyone. I am sure that many of you will agree with me, after studying and discussing in class war poetry, that war is destructive; it destroys properties and lives. It is also the meaning if not dehumanizing as Owen in his 'Dulce et Decorum Est' has pointed out. The violence and destructiveness of war reduces men in the battlefield into something less than human; they are stripped of their dignity. Ultimately as Owen points out in his poem, war is senseless or futile. Whatever the reason for going to war, it's not justification enough for the senseless slaughter of young lives.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Corruption In 'All Quiet On The Western Front'
    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Corruption In 'All Quiet On The Western Front'

    It is always easier to say how you would respond to war while looking upon it as an outsider who has seen little outside of movies and pictures. We tell ourselves "I could never imagine doing that", or "How could any human be so corrupt?" That is what we say, but I wonder what those same men said just prior to their war time experience. Surely they would not follow the same path that so many before them had, choosing to allow war to consume them from the very destructive nature of its existence. In the novel "All Quiet On The Western Front" by Erich Remarque, the author conveys the message of how war can corrupt how people view, respect, and handle authority. Through his writing, he has helped to enlighten the world as to how exactly war can change our views on authority that we once stood firm on. No matter who you are, war can find a way to work into your character, at least in some slight way.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    War Without Mercy, History Paper
    • 2432 Words
    • 10 Pages

    War Without Mercy, History Paper

    In the book, War without Mercy, Race and Power in the Pacific War, by John W. Dower and Published by Pantheon Books in 1986, the author powerfully illustrates the extreme racial tensions of Japan and the United States and how they affected policies in both countries. During World War II, the altercations between Japan and the United States were often overlooked, since Germany was taking all of the attention away from the world. But, as described by Dower, the ugly racial battles between Japan and the United States obviously point out that there was more friction between the two countries than most people believe. Another overlooked aspect of World War II is that racism was actually a major component of the war, not just a partial element of the War. Dower demonstrates that racism was a huge underlying factor that affected how people viewed the war as well as the war itself and that racism is highly neglected as a subject of World War II. Lastly, Dower argues how the racial stereotypes that fueled Pacific conflict did not disappear, but rather adapted to peacetime. Throughout the book Dower argues three major components of World War II; that the United States had more racist aggression against the Japanese over the Germans, that Racism was a huge influence during World War II, and that racism between that United States and Japan not only continued but also played a big role in peacetime and rebuilding policies between that two countries.…

    • 2432 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Morality in Peace Like a River
    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Morality in Peace Like a River

    Morality is the essence of right and wrong and becomes very hard to define because of the different ways people view what is correct and not. It is a common theme in many novels, such as Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, who explores the essence of moral decisions through a young boy whose brother is convicted of murder. Though the moral level of a decision is based on the impact inflicted on surrounding people and the motives best decide the virtue behind an action, no one can be the judge of morality because everyone holds different opinions that can vary three hundred and sixty degrees on the scale of right and wrong.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Liberty Or Death In My Brother Sam Is Dead?
    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Liberty Or Death In My Brother Sam Is Dead?

    War can be both positive and negative, depending on where you stand and what you stand for. During the Revolutionary War, there were Loyalists, Patriots, and those who were neutral, somewhere between the two opposing sides and living in the thirteen colonies. “Give me Liberty or give me death …” was famously spoken by patriots, but would it stand true? Patriots were believed to be fighting for freedom, equality, justice, liberty, representation, and the overall pursuit of happiness; while, Loyalists were those that were against the war and remained loyal to the crown. Loyalists thought the war to be brutal, avoidable, and only cause more trouble for many innocent lives. In My Brother Sam is Dead, Christopher and James Collier use the injustices and ironies of Ned, Sam, and Mr. Meeker’s death to influence Tim Meekers overall decision of neutrality regarding the American Revolution.…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Amazing Grace
    • 865 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Amazing Grace

    “When people speak of great men, they think of men like Napoleon – men of violence. Rarely do they think of peaceful men. But contrast the reception they will receive when they return home from their battles. Napoleon will arrive in pomp and in power, a man who’s achieved the very summit of earthly ambition. And yet his dreams will be haunted by the oppressions of war. William Wilberforce, however, will return to his family, lay his head on his pillow and remember: the slave trade is no more.”…

    • 865 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    A Soldiers Thoughts
    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages

    A Soldiers Thoughts

    Zachary Scott-Singley wrote an essay called “A Soldiers Thoughts”. His essay was based on his inner thoughts and questions, how he should and shouldn’t feel about war. Is war right or wrong? Are these people truly the enemy? What would you do to stay alive? I feel war leaves these questions open to discussion and defiantly can change based on the person and the involvement; but the work of war can change a person’s values and morals.…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Pros And Cons Of Just War
    • 145 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Pros And Cons Of Just War

    “Just war” is war that is morally and religiously acceptable; it displays all three criteria that makes war justifiable. The first is that war must be waged by those who hold supreme authority. The second is that the war must have a justifiable cause and not just to show power. The third is that everyone should have the right intentions and peace should be an intention. “Just war” helps express that all wars are not sinful.…

    • 145 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Just War Theory On The Positive Issues Of Warfare
    • 98 Words
    • 1 Page

    Just War Theory On The Positive Issues Of Warfare

    Just war theory serves as the moral deliberation on the sensitive issues of warfare. It provides certain limitations or rules in going to war and the conduct of combatants during war. The just war theory has been established under two contested principles; first is that in some cases going to war is just, and the other principle lies under the premise that certain norms exist on how war is conducted in a certain manner. Just war doctrine can be seen in the principles of jus ad bellum (the right to war) and jus in bello (law of war).…

    • 98 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    On Duties: The Morality Of War
    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages

    On Duties: The Morality Of War

    War cannot be morally justified, even if it seem necessary or the battle looks to be in your favor. In “On Duties”, he says we have certain duties to those who have wronged us but, by going into a physical altercation with an opponent is the way of the brute. Humans have been on the earth for centuries and have become to civilized to resort to fighting.…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Ethics Of War
    • 2112 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Ethics Of War

    War is an extremely controversial topic, especially amongst philosophers. It raises many ethical and political questions, the most important, perhaps, being the circumstances under which going to war are justifiable. Views on the law of war vary greatly. Some believe non-violence is the only acceptable approach, while others believe preventive war is justified. In this paper, we will examine and discuss several philosophers and their ideologies pertaining to war. We will begin with St. Thomas Aquinas.…

    • 2112 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    War. What is it good for?
    • 1816 Words
    • 5 Pages

    War. What is it good for?

    It is within human nature to fight in order to try and make a gain and become more influential. This is demonstrated by the thousands of years that humans have fought in wars. Surprisingly what humans fight for now remains much the same as what was the common motive in prehistoric times; self-defence, re-capturing lost possessions and punishing people for what they have done wrong. Most of the time war is tried to be justified yet on many occasions there are examples where it is completely unnecessary. Although it can be argued that wars costs usually outweigh their benefits this is not always accurate and war may often be the last solution to amend a serious evil. This means both sides of the argument should be examined and evaluated before making a decision if war is or is not good.…

    • 1816 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Gandhian Pacifism
    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Gandhian Pacifism

    A more peaceful way of life is dreamed about by everyone but it seems almost impossible to…

    • 1375 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics