Afghanistan

First topic message reminder :




Why?

eddie wrote:But don’t you see, that everyone has their own reasons and beliefs in war? So you cannot simply sit and say some wars are okay and others aren’t.

Yes you can. All "reasons and beliefs" are rooted in moral beliefs, which result in moral (or immoral, as the case may be) acts. Some moral beliefs are so offensive, that you have to respond with opposition...which can lead to war.

To say that all moral beliefs are individual and particularized ("everyone has their own reasons and beliefs") is to say there is no common morality, which is to say there is no collective consciousness.

Moral beliefs are the substance of collective consciousness. Even simple models such as 'cause and effect' have moral content: "Nazis kill Jews, and if we allow Britain to fall, we will be faced with an unassailable force that believes in genocide" - a common argument bandied about during the war years. That interprets as: if we allow evil to gain a strong enough hold in a part of the world, then evil will become a permanent part of the world. That was a common moral statement, that was shared by the 'collective conscience' of America in the early 40's.

If one says all "reasons and beliefs" are particularized and insubstantial, then one is saying all moral thinking is ephemeral and insubstantial.