Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables and Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Introduction
- 1 Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Brief Overview
- 2 The International Law Concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction
- PART ONE THE ORIGINAL DEBATE
- PART TWO EXPANDING THE CONVERSATION
- PART THREE CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES
- 21 A Feminist Ethical Perspective on Weapons of Mass Destruction
- 22 A Pragmatist Feminist Approach to the Ethics of Weapons of Mass Destruction
- 23 Pacifism and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- 24 Pacifism and Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Challenge of Peace
- 25 Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Limits of Moral Understanding: A Comparative Essay
- Contributors
- Index
24 - Pacifism and Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Challenge of Peace
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Tables and Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Ethics and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Introduction
- 1 Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Brief Overview
- 2 The International Law Concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction
- PART ONE THE ORIGINAL DEBATE
- PART TWO EXPANDING THE CONVERSATION
- PART THREE CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES
- 21 A Feminist Ethical Perspective on Weapons of Mass Destruction
- 22 A Pragmatist Feminist Approach to the Ethics of Weapons of Mass Destruction
- 23 Pacifism and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- 24 Pacifism and Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Challenge of Peace
- 25 Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Limits of Moral Understanding: A Comparative Essay
- Contributors
- Index
Summary
It comes as no surprise that pacifism presents an important challenge to major-power policies when we consider ethical issues regarding weapons of mass destruction. In the preceding chapter, Robert L. Holmes has offered clear and careful explanations of a broad range of pacifist objections to the continuing development, proliferation, and use of such weapons. In the process he dispels the myth of deterrence and makes a pacifist case for disarmament. While Holmes and I do not always agree about pacifism, our points of disagreement are few and small; my remarks below in reaction to his chapter more often extend and amplify his arguments than contest them.
It is always a bit awkward for pacifists to participate in a project such as this, since pacifists hold a view that is held by relatively few, and they are typically ignored or even ridiculed by those embracing more conventional values. For this reason it is important to include at least a brief response to some of the more common objections to pacifism at the outset.
Pacifists get used to questions about reacting to a mugger, confronting Hitler, being self-righteous, self-sacrificial, and especially about being unrealistic. Perhaps the most effective forms of refutation of any idea are neglect and ridicule. It is easier to neglect or ridicule a challenging idea than to engage it. Name calling aside, the most common objection to pacifism is a form of “Be realistic.”
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Ethics and Weapons of Mass DestructionReligious and Secular Perspectives, pp. 470 - 481Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004