Peace: an idea whose time has come

Abstract

In Peace: An Idea Whose Time Has Come, noted mathematician and peace researcher Anatol Rapoport explores the evolution of the idea of peace and explains why it is displacing war as a viable institution. Professor Rapoport ventures into uncharted philosophical territory by drawing on both the natural and the social sciences to trace the development of the ideas of war and peace. He argues that the theory of evolution and processes analogous to natural selection can explain not only biological events, but also the development of the institution of war. Thus the clashes of armed hordes at the dawn of history were the ancestors of our present battles using automated weapons, while Isaiah's prophecy of total disarmament--And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares--anticipates the resolutions of the United Nations. Rapoport explains that although the institution of war enjoys a long history and continues to be a policy option today, it may soon fall into disuse, either by losing its relevance to modern life or by destroying the civilizations that practice it. He then calls attention to ideas that lie dormant until people's ideational environment becomes receptive to their germination: peace, Anatol Rapoport believes, is one such idea. Peace continues in the interdisciplinary tradition that has taken root in inquiries at the nexus of science and philosophy. No specific technical knowledge is expected of the reader, only a willingness to venture into little-charted areas of thought.