Is Pacifism a Democratic Virtue? Pragmatist Reflections on an Often Neglected Dimension of Contemporary Peace Ethics
The article questions concepts of democratic peace' that presuppose an intrinsic relation between pacifism and democracy. This view lacks from both, empirical evidence and historical insight. Instead, pacifism as political and personal virtue can be better linked to the Deweyan idea of democra...
| Published in: | Studies in Christian ethics |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
[2018]
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| In: |
Studies in Christian ethics
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| IxTheo Classification: | NCD Political ethics TK Recent history VA Philosophy |
| Further subjects: | B
Pacifism
B religious wars B Dewey B Democracy B Peace B Virtue B H. Richard Niebuhr B moral equivalent to war B Religious Ethics B way of life B Self-restraint |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The article questions concepts of democratic peace' that presuppose an intrinsic relation between pacifism and democracy. This view lacks from both, empirical evidence and historical insight. Instead, pacifism as political and personal virtue can be better linked to the Deweyan idea of democracy as the basic way of life, that is, mutual cooperation and self-realisation. But not only pacifism but also warfare and aggressive conduct often are rooted and result in an ethos of solidarity and cooperation. Therefore, the task for any realistic concept of democratic pacifism is at least two-fold: finding moral equivalents' (W. James) to war and cultivating an ethos of self-criticism and self-restraint as already the Old Testament's prophets have proclaimed. |
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| ISSN: | 0953-9468 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0953946817749899 |