Introduction: Moral victories-the ethics of winning wars

Cian O'Driscoll; Andrew R. Hom

doi:10.1093/oso/9780198801825.003.0001

Introduction: Moral victories-the ethics of winning wars

Cian O'Driscoll, Andrew R. Hom

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

What is victory in war? If one is fighting for a just cause, is it a dereliction of duty to settle for anything less than victory? Can victory ever be worthy of the sacrifices made in its pursuit? What is its relation to the peace that everyone hopes will come once fighting has ended? This introduction discusses how the book will tackle these questions. It briefly traces the ubiquity and import of ‘victory’ in the theoretical and practical discourses of war from ancient times to the present day. It then juxtaposes three prominent examples of victory’s importance: the classical use of trophies and triumphs, the emergence of ‘degrade and destroy’ as a rubric for interpreting the ‘War on Terror’, and finally the centrality of victory to any efforts to conceive of war in strategic, political, or ethical terms. We close by providing an overview of the chapters to follow.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Moral Victories
Subtitle of host publication	The Ethics of Winning Wars
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Pages	1-12
Number of pages	12
ISBN (Electronic)	9780198801825
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198801825.003.0001
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2017
Externally published	Yes

Access to Document

10.1093/oso/9780198801825.003.0001

Cite this

@inbook{c10635b5ef6145e1a301aa9c16286c52,

title = "Introduction: Moral victories-the ethics of winning wars",

abstract = "What is victory in war? If one is fighting for a just cause, is it a dereliction of duty to settle for anything less than victory? Can victory ever be worthy of the sacrifices made in its pursuit? What is its relation to the peace that everyone hopes will come once fighting has ended? This introduction discusses how the book will tackle these questions. It briefly traces the ubiquity and import of {\textquoteleft}victory{\textquoteright} in the theoretical and practical discourses of war from ancient times to the present day. It then juxtaposes three prominent examples of victory{\textquoteright}s importance: the classical use of trophies and triumphs, the emergence of {\textquoteleft}degrade and destroy{\textquoteright} as a rubric for interpreting the {\textquoteleft}War on Terror{\textquoteright}, and finally the centrality of victory to any efforts to conceive of war in strategic, political, or ethical terms. We close by providing an overview of the chapters to follow.",

keywords = "Degrade and destroy, Ethics, Moral victories, Strategy, Triumphs, Trophies, War on terror",

author = "Cian O'Driscoll and Hom, {Andrew R.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Oxford University Press 2017.",

year = "2017",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1093/oso/9780198801825.003.0001",

language = "English",

pages = "1--12",

booktitle = "Moral Victories",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

address = "United Kingdom",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - Introduction

T2 - Moral victories-the ethics of winning wars

AU - O'Driscoll, Cian

AU - Hom, Andrew R.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Oxford University Press 2017.

PY - 2017/1/1

Y1 - 2017/1/1

N2 - What is victory in war? If one is fighting for a just cause, is it a dereliction of duty to settle for anything less than victory? Can victory ever be worthy of the sacrifices made in its pursuit? What is its relation to the peace that everyone hopes will come once fighting has ended? This introduction discusses how the book will tackle these questions. It briefly traces the ubiquity and import of ‘victory’ in the theoretical and practical discourses of war from ancient times to the present day. It then juxtaposes three prominent examples of victory’s importance: the classical use of trophies and triumphs, the emergence of ‘degrade and destroy’ as a rubric for interpreting the ‘War on Terror’, and finally the centrality of victory to any efforts to conceive of war in strategic, political, or ethical terms. We close by providing an overview of the chapters to follow.

AB - What is victory in war? If one is fighting for a just cause, is it a dereliction of duty to settle for anything less than victory? Can victory ever be worthy of the sacrifices made in its pursuit? What is its relation to the peace that everyone hopes will come once fighting has ended? This introduction discusses how the book will tackle these questions. It briefly traces the ubiquity and import of ‘victory’ in the theoretical and practical discourses of war from ancient times to the present day. It then juxtaposes three prominent examples of victory’s importance: the classical use of trophies and triumphs, the emergence of ‘degrade and destroy’ as a rubric for interpreting the ‘War on Terror’, and finally the centrality of victory to any efforts to conceive of war in strategic, political, or ethical terms. We close by providing an overview of the chapters to follow.

KW - Degrade and destroy

KW - Ethics

KW - Moral victories

KW - Strategy

KW - Triumphs

KW - Trophies

KW - War on terror

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85049551598&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1093/oso/9780198801825.003.0001

DO - 10.1093/oso/9780198801825.003.0001

M3 - Chapter

SP - 1

EP - 12

BT - Moral Victories

PB - Oxford University Press

ER -

Introduction: Moral victories-the ethics of winning wars

Abstract

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this