Category: Fleming

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Studying War: Toward A Workable Just War Theory, Proem

War, much like marriage, is a necessary institution that responds to human need.  Sexual desire and the impulse to violence—which can be fueled by cupidity—are both part of the human condition.  In a state of nature, unfortunately, human needs are fulfilled without ceremony: rape, promiscuous sex, and incest, in the case of sexual desire, and raiding parties, looting expeditions, ambushes, and genocidal mass murders, in the case of violence.

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Studying War: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

If wolves and chimpanzees can usually resolve conflicts within the group without massive blood-letting, why are modern human communities so wracked by violent crime?  And, while it is true that in wars between groups of carnivorous mammals, the death rate can be very high, the numbers are only a small fraction of the human beings killed in brush wars that barely make the newspapers.  Why, then, are human wars so devastating?