This seminar offers a platform for exploring the phenomenon of war from various theoretical and philosophical perspectives. It consists of six sessions, each of them focusing on war from a different philosophical/theoretical viewpoint, such as realism, liberalism, pacifism, and moral philosophy.

Each seminar will be introduced and chaired by the convenor, but the quality of discussion will largely depend on the students’ active involvement. Each student is expected to read the required literature and take active part in the seminar discussions. To this end, each student must submit beforehand a short memo addressing questions assigned for the session.

Moodle

The e-learning platform ‘moodle’ is an essential part of this module. Every participating student is expected to enrol into the moodle-page of this module (http://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=3751) and regularly check its content. Moodle will provide a platform for 1) communication between seminar convener and students, 2) distribution of the required reading, 3) submission of reading memos and essays.

Assessment

1) Home preparation for each session demonstrated in reading memos may be awarded with 3 points. The reading memo should address questions asked via moodle with answers approximately 400 words long. More info about this assignment will be presented in moodle. (!No assignment for the first class!)

2) Attendance of classes is awarded with 1 point for each class. Students are expected to actively participate in discussions and seminar activities. Extra points can be given for outstanding contribution to seminar discussions.

3) Final essay can be awarded with up to 10 points. The essay should critically reflect the theoretical literature relevant to the subject of the seminar and demonstrate author’s independent argument in empirical/historical illustrations. The essay topic must be approved in advance by the seminar convenor. The length of the essay should not exceed 3000 words.

Plagiarism warning

‘Presenting larger or even shorter passages of specialized and other works of another without properly acknowledging the source, or presenting source materials or empirical data without crediting the source constitutes plagiarism. In such case, an author presents work of another as his own.

Such an act can be constituted as plagiarism, which is a gross violation of the rules governing studies at the FSV UK and is a major violation of the rules of academic ethics. Also, such an act constitutes wilful misconduct and will be penalized in accordance with Disciplinarian Regulations of the faculty.’ (Dean's Directives no. 5/2006)

Each essay will be checked through anti-plagiarism program URKUND.

Seminar schedule

Seminar 1

Definition of war

What is war and what is not? What constitutes war in general? Is there anything what connects particular instances of war? How to think about war? This seminar introduces and explores variety of perspectives of looking at war.

Reading:

Orend, Brian. "War." Edited by Edward N. Zalta. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2008. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/war/.
Vasquez, John A. The War Puzzle Revisited. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp.21-41.

Seminar 2

Instrumental conception of war

Clausewitz and his critics.

Reading

Clausewitz, Carl von. On War. Edited by Michael Howard and Peter Paret. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. (Book I, ch.1 & Book VIII, ch.6)
Herberg-Rothe, Andreas. Clausewitz’s Puzzle: The Political Theory of War. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 68-87
Kaldor, Mary. "Old Wars, Cold Wars, New Wars, and the War on Terror." International Politics 42, no. 4 (2005): 491-98.
Van Creveld, Martin. The Transformation of War. New York; Toronto; New York: Free Press ; Collier Macmillan Canada ; Maxwell Macmillan International, 1991, pp. 124-156.

Seminar 3

Realism

Realism.

Reading:

Levy, Jack S. "War and Peace." In Handbook of International Relations, edited by Walter Carlsnaes, Thomas Risse-Kappen, and Beth A Simmons. London; Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013, pp. 8-15
The Melian Dialogue (Thucydides 5.84-116)
Waltz, Kenneth N. Man, the State and War. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959, pp.16-41 & 159-186Waltz, Kenneth N. "The Origins of War in Neorealist Theory." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 18, no. 4 (April 1, 1988): 615-28. doi:10.2307/204817.

Seminar 4

Liberalism

Reading:

Doyle, Michael W. "Kant, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs." Philosophy & Public Affairs, 1983, 205-35.
Levy, Jack S. "War and Peace." In Handbook of International Relations, edited by Walter Carlsnaes, Thomas Risse-Kappen, and Beth A Simmons. London; Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013, pp. 15-28
Mansfield, Edward D., and Jack Snyder. "Democratic Transitions, Institutional Strength, and War." International Organization 56, no. 2 (April 1, 2002): 297-337.
Rosato, Sebastian. "The Flawed Logic of Democratic Peace Theory." The American Political Science Review 97, no. 4 (November 1, 2003): 585-602.

Seminar 5

Just war theory.

Reading:

Coker, Christopher. Ethics and War in the 21st Century. London: Routledge, 2008. (selection)
Orend, Brian. "Michael Walzer on Resorting to Force." Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique 33, no. 3 (September 1, 2000): 523-47.
Slomp, Gabriella. "Carl Schmitt’s Five Arguments against the Idea of Just War." Cambridge Review of International Affairs 19, no. 3 (September 1, 2006): 435-47. doi:10.1080/09557570600869432.
Walzer, Michael. Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations. New York: Basic Books, 2000, pp.3-33 & 51-73.

Seminar 6

Pacifism

Reading:

Cochran, David Carroll. "War-Pacifism." Social Theory & Practice 22, no. 2 (Summer 1996): 161-80.
Dower, Nigel. The Ethics of War and Peace: Cosmopolitan and Other Perspectives. Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA: Polity, 2009, pp.110-136
Holmes, Robert L. "Pacifism for Nonpacifists." Journal of Social Philosophy 30, no. 3 (Winter 1999): 387-400.
Møller, Bjørn. Resolving the Security Dilemma in Europe: The German Debate on Non-Offensive Defence. London: Macmillan, 1991, 121-130