Just Wars

Ian Murray seamus2001 at home.com
Thu May 10 15:44:26 PDT 2001


----- Original Message -----

From: LeoCasey at aol.com

To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com

Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 8:26 AM

Subject: Re: Just Wars

In a message dated 05/10/2001 3:40:45 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

owner-lbo-talk-digest at lists.panix.com writes:

Name one person in the history of the world that has the moral authority to

inaugurate death. Not political power, moral authority.

Ian

Spartacus

Nat Turner

Denmark Vessey

Gabriel Prosser

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Any inhabitant of the Warsaw ghetto

The list could be greatly expanded, but I think the point has been made.

============

Nope, sorry it hasn't. Nor, I believe could it, for to do so would be to achieve moral certitude. In the absence of moral certitude there can be no moral authority which is why moral skepticism is a necessary, but not sufficient, reason for a potentially peaceful society.....The people you mention, however "noble" their cause may have been, had no more authority to command or persuade others to engage in killing than did their nemeses. Nor did those who were commanded or persuaded have the moral authority to alienate their responsibility to refrain from inaugurating violence against another human being, any more than their nemeses did......

Ian

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