This collection of philosophical views reagarding the differant asspects of war, specifically nuclear war is a very interesting read. If you remember the 60's and the turmoil of those times then these writings published in 1969 will bring back some of those times. The essays (18 of them) cover, The War System, The Causes of War as well as other aspects of war. The different Proffesors of Philosophy all write with an aim to show why war is the way it is, why we fight or why it is unjustified or what must happen to stop further wars. Some it can easily be seen are biased in one way or another in their views and they let that come through, however this is not true of all the writers.
By far the best essay is National Sovereignty and International Anarchy by Paul Arthur Schilpp. It is a look at the way in which the sovereignty that nations claim is also a source of anarchy internationally because no true enforcable international laws/rules exist to cause nations to interact respectfully and peacefully with each other. They can and do make and break treaties at will and for any reason.
True hard line philosophy people may find this book not to their liking. However, it is a interesting look and viewpoint regarding war and nuclear war from a time when their was a very serious concern that any day may be the final day before nuclear holocaust. These times were full of competing view points on war and the Vietnam War was in full swing with protests all over college campuses acroos America. These respected people were attempting to send out an educated outlook on war and its purpose and use in modern times. I believe there are some points in these writting worthy of being made required reading for people today.
The reason I did not rate it higher than three stars is because there are some writers that used this book to climb onto a soapbox and peach but overall the thoughts in these writing are measured and well thoughtout.
By far the best essay is National Sovereignty and International Anarchy by Paul Arthur Schilpp. It is a look at the way in which the sovereignty that nations claim is also a source of anarchy internationally because no true enforcable international laws/rules exist to cause nations to interact respectfully and peacefully with each other. They can and do make and break treaties at will and for any reason.
True hard line philosophy people may find this book not to their liking. However, it is a interesting look and viewpoint regarding war and nuclear war from a time when their was a very serious concern that any day may be the final day before nuclear holocaust. These times were full of competing view points on war and the Vietnam War was in full swing with protests all over college campuses acroos America. These respected people were attempting to send out an educated outlook on war and its purpose and use in modern times. I believe there are some points in these writting worthy of being made required reading for people today.
The reason I did not rate it higher than three stars is because there are some writers that used this book to climb onto a soapbox and peach but overall the thoughts in these writing are measured and well thoughtout.
