14 Oct War as a Necessary Evil?
Hugo Grotius, the Founding Father of international law, wrote in On the Laws of War and Peace (1625) that
On the other hand, the United Nations was established in order to “save succeeding generations from the scourge or war which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind,” and the U.N. has as its objective “to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security.”
In light of these perspectives, do you agree or disagree with the following:
“For the preservation of our lives and persons, which is the end of war…”
I would argue this is the “end of war” if you happen to be on the defensive side but as history will show, most wars are not started to preserve lives and persons but to secure land, wealth, or religious converts. I am not sure Grotius’ assertion that because animals have natural defenses war must be natural holds water. In fact, it seems as though the only animals which engage in any kind of behavior which would even resemble war are insects.
Clearly war or opposition is part of life on this earth.
While Grotius gave a so called ‘legal’ reason for this, the true basis for War being a part of our lives is that while this earth remains there will always be a war/fight between ‘good and evil’.