War from the Perspective of Nietzsche and Kant

Subject Areas : علوم سیاسی

Mohammad Nasiri ¹ , Garineh keshishyan ² , Seyed Ali Mortazavian Farsani ³

1 - Ph.D. Candidate of Political Science, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - Department of Political Science, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Department of Political Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2023-06-20 Accepted : 2023-06-20 Published : 2022-02-01

Keywords: Peace, war, Kant, Nietzsche, Interpretation of what being means,

Abstract :

Kant believes that war should be considered a last resort with the utmost respect for human life and dignity. War should only be used when all other means of conflict resolution have been exhausted. Nietzsche considered morality as a human structure that has been used throughout history to suppress and control people, so peace is a sign of weakness and degeneration and a product of herd mentality. Real strength comes from conflict and struggle. Nietzsche considered peace as a necessary part of life, but only if it is based on power. Understanding and formulating the criticism of these two important thinkers on peace and what war is and how they interpret these concepts is the central issue of this article. Nietzsche believed that peace is not an end in itself, but a means to an end, and argued that peace is necessary for the development of higher forms of culture and civilization, but it should not be pursued at the expense of creativity and progress. On the other hand, Kant believed that countries should strive towards a more peaceful world order in which conflicts are resolved through dialogue instead of violence.