Why war? a philosophical perspective

Tuesday 18th September, 7.30 at the Rose and Crown, Tintern

NEXT MEETING 18th September 2018

War often seems an absurd and irrational activity, and some believe that it is fading into history. Yet nearly a century since the armistice which ended the First World War - supposedly 'a war to end all wars' - we are still bombarded with daily news about the violence of war between peoples, between ethnic communities, between individuals. Some have argued that warlike activity is in our biological nature, and Hobbes famously characterised the state of nature as one of 'the war of all against all'. The talk explores an alternative view, namely that war is related more to our beliefs and our worldviews, to the underlying values and assumptions which guide us in our individual, social and political lives. These worldviews vary over time and from one culture to another, and are the stuff of philosophical speculation.