In the spirit of some lighthearted journaling, and with a newfound enthusiasm for getting back into the swing of things, I thought I’d share some class notes from a philosophy course I took last year titled “War: Philosophical and Interdisciplinary Approaches.” Now, I understand that topics like language classes or data analytics might not make for the most exciting blog posts, but hey, let’s give it a shot anyway!
WAR
As a matter of fact, we all know what war is. But when it comes to discussing it, it turns out to be quite perplexing and complex. Most definitions of war center around the involvement of nation-states, but it can also be an inner battle, a conflict within oneself, as it were.
At an infrahuman level, humans indeed had to engage in warfare to survive, much like animals hunting for their prey. This is something that used to be commonplace.
Frequency
- There have been 248 wars following World War II (you’d think there would be some trauma after WWII, but apparently not).
- Out of these 248 wars, 201 were initiated by the United States, and most of them ended in failure.
Scale
- In the past: wars were local or national affairs. Today: wars can be local, national, or global in scope.
- Simultaneously, there can also be internal conflicts within a nation.
Trends
- Access to weapons is becoming increasingly easier (is this the democratization of war?).
- Wars are becoming deadlier with the advent of nuclear weapons, autonomous/AI-driven weaponry (unmanned and devoid of ethical principles).
- War strategies have grown more complex and intricate, involving elements like cyber attacks and deep fakes.
- Moments of waiting for “Is this going to turn into a war?” can evolve into conflicts themselves. Remember the Cold War?
Some philosophical perspectives:
- Plato: War arises from the difficulty humans face in controlling their instincts.
- Heraclitus: He boldly claims, “War is the father of all, and king of all.” It places some beings as gods and others as men, making some slaves and others free.
- Hobbes: According to him, humans, by nature, are in a state of hostility towards each other.
- Rousseau: On the contrary, Rousseau believed that humans are creatures of peace by their very nature.
- Christianity: Humans are created in the image of God, imperfect yet free. They are meant to be free from war.
- Behaviorism: War is a consequence of behavior conditioned by the environment and culture.
- Biology: War emerges from the instinct of self-preservation (the reptilian brain), especially when threatened.
- Psychology: Freud’s concept of “Death drives” suggests that war can result from humans’ self-sacrificial and self-destructive instincts. It can be driven by sympathy, cooperation, or pure aggression.
In the natural order of things, humans are paradoxical creatures: indeterminate yet determinate, free yet determined, driven by self-preservation yet capable of self-sacrifice. It all depends on one’s beliefs. War, it seems, shares this paradox.
War may not be an inherent part of human nature but rather a product of human culture.
It’s a disaster celebrated in its own way.
Reflection and Interesting Tidbits
I stumbled upon an article by Jean Baudrillard titled “La Guerre du Golfe n’a pas eu lieu” (The Gulf War did not take place), published in 1991. Baudrillard’s take on this subject is mind-boggling:
- He argues that this doesn’t mean the war didn’t happen, but they lose their significance as historical events.
- History, much like other spheres such as sexuality, aesthetics, politics, and economics, has transformed into something “trans-” – “transsexuality,” “transaesthetics,” “transpolitics,” and “transeconomics.” It’s like a realm of simulation, a ghostly presence, an undead institution that neither fully lives nor properly dies. (Now, that’s intriguing!)
- The Gulf War, according to Baudrillard, was “a degenerate form of war” where the enemy wasn’t encountered but made “invisible.” (This resonates with the idea of mediatic killings, akin to what we see in political years in Indonesia).
War reveals contrasting facets of good and evil, hero and villain – a juxtaposition that adds a unique dimension to it. Such stark contrasts often make for a more captivating composition, much like one of the principles of aesthetics – the allure of the contrast, the beauty in the starkness.
So there you have it.
(Suddenly, I’m reminded of that iconic scene in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” where “Ride of the Valkyries” plays in the background.)