TY - JOUR
T1 - The morality, politics, and irony of war
T2 - Recovering Reinhold Niebuhr's ethical realism
AU - Carlson, John
PY - 2008/12
Y1 - 2008/12
N2 - The American experience of war is ironic. That is, there is often an intimate and unexamined relationship between seemingly contrary elements in war such as morality and politics. This article argues that without understanding such irony, we are unlikely to reflect in morally comprehensive ways on past, present, or future wars. Traditional schools of thought, however, such as moralism and political realism, reinforce these apparent contradictions. I propose, then, an alternative - "ethical realism" as informed by Reinhold Niebuhr - that better explains the irony of war. Through an ethical realist examination of the U.S. Civil War, World War II, and the Iraq War, I consider how American political interests have been inextricably linked with deep moral concerns. Ethical realism charts a middle path that ennobles traditional realpolitik while eschewing certain perfectionist tendencies of moralism. Ethical realism provides a conceptual framework for evaluating these other frameworks - a distinct form of moral-political deliberation about war.
AB - The American experience of war is ironic. That is, there is often an intimate and unexamined relationship between seemingly contrary elements in war such as morality and politics. This article argues that without understanding such irony, we are unlikely to reflect in morally comprehensive ways on past, present, or future wars. Traditional schools of thought, however, such as moralism and political realism, reinforce these apparent contradictions. I propose, then, an alternative - "ethical realism" as informed by Reinhold Niebuhr - that better explains the irony of war. Through an ethical realist examination of the U.S. Civil War, World War II, and the Iraq War, I consider how American political interests have been inextricably linked with deep moral concerns. Ethical realism charts a middle path that ennobles traditional realpolitik while eschewing certain perfectionist tendencies of moralism. Ethical realism provides a conceptual framework for evaluating these other frameworks - a distinct form of moral-political deliberation about war.
KW - Ethical realism
KW - Iraq war
KW - Just war
KW - Moralism
KW - Reinhold Niebuhr
KW - U.S. civil war
KW - World war II
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1467-9795.2008.00365.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1467-9795.2008.00365.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:61149138094
SN - 0384-9694
VL - 36
SP - 619
EP - 651
JO - Journal of Religious Ethics
JF - Journal of Religious Ethics
IS - 4
ER -