University of Southampton

Is pacifism a defensible moral position?

by

Lucia Schuster

There are plenty of ideas in international ethics which indicate how states and individuals should behave and interact. The belief that the use of violence in contact with others is wrong, represents one of those. Pacifists, fascinated by a world without war or violence, formed different moral positions according to that vision. To have a moral position means that a person or a state must have general kinds of reasons "for supposing a certain type of act to be his [or its] duty, in a moral sense" (Wasserstrom R., p. 66). Pacifism describes a duty that might range from non-resistance to any sort of physical attack, up to the attitude to use force only in case of self-defence. In the first part of this essay the debate will therefore focus on the individual and whether or not pacifism can be made a plausible moral principle for our private lives. Passive and active non-resistance and self-defence will be the main viewpoints discussed in this section. It will be followed by debatable moral standpoints for a nation as a whole in the second chapter. We will determine, if it is imaginable and desirable for a state to adopt perspectives like ′no force at all′, ′no war′ or ′wars only in the case of self-defence′, as its righteous. To provide evidence for the moral verification of pacifist views, we firstly have to prove whether or not they can possibly be moral positions and secondly if they are defensible. However, it will be shown, that moral positions are defensible, if one has plausible reasons to believe that this specific vision is likely to be realised.

People′s aversion against violence varies in intensity from passive non-resistance, over active non-resistance, to the use of force in the case of self-defence.
In this first paragraph the following discussion will be based on religious ideas because the radical moral doctrine of passive non-resistance roots largely in the belief in the sanctity of life. This notion in our moral thinking that not only "violence is evil but also that it is morally wrong to use force to resist, punish, or prevent violence" (Wasserstrom R., p. 63) has developed separately in various religions. In Europe reasons to embrace pacifism, as our moral guideline through life, are shaped by Christianity. Jesus presents himself as an uncompromising pacifist. He told us to love our enemies and to be absolute in our disapproval of violence. His doctrine stands for passive endurance. To turn the other cheek when somebody slaps us is a great humiliation, which one can only bear if he/she is free from the feeling of revenge. Reprisal can be seen as immoral as it leads directly into the vicious circle of violence. Instead of physical bravery to fight back, moral courage is needed to master the temptation of using the same means. ′Passive non-resistance pacifists′ have confidence in the moral conclusion that one is not permitted to employ the same methods one condemns, otherwise non-resistance could not be a moral position. Whatever situation you find yourself in, you are not allowed to defend yourself or others with force. For this consistency to suffer for something one believes to be morally right, religions like Hinduism and Christianity, promise compensation in a next or in eternal life. Even if this religious idea constitutes a moral duty, it is still difficult to justify because no resistance at all leaves pacifists extremely vulnerable and creates perfect victims for aggressors. On the one hand there might exist the possibility that a pacifist´s and his friends´ sacrifice would alarm the international community. As a consequence the state might be liberated and the spiral of violence be stopped. On the other hand, cases like the genocide in Rwanda show a horrifying example of the uselessness of silent suffering . Furthermore pacifism cannot be seen as natural response. Ones first reaction is trying to protect his/her body from physical violence. It would be an understandable reflex to stab a man who tries to rape you. Not to kill him will result in an immense self-sacrifice. Consequently one must have good reasons to live with non-resistance and to endure cruelties. This all comes down to believing in justice, justice of court, of an international institution or the punishment of aggressors in a next life or an after life. Without the belief in "justice at last" passive endurance cannot be a defensible concept. However mainly religions are strong enough to establish such a moral obligation for some of us. Therefore only under the light of this faith can passive pacifism be a defensible moral position.

[...]