Philosophy Of War Research Articles

СЛАВЯНОФИЛЬСКАЯ ФИЛОСОФИЯ ВОЙНЫ: ОПЫТ РЕКОНСТРУКЦИИ

The article examines the statements of Slavophile philosophy that defined the line along which the tradition of understanding the phenomenon of war developed in Russia. Exploring the views and war roads of A.S. Khomyakov, I.S. Aksakov and Yu.F. Samarin, the authors analyze the attitude of these thinkers to war and its consequences, their appraisal of the meaning of the XIXth century war conflicts in the history of Russia and the West as well as moral motives dominating the works of these philosophers. Slavophile philosophy of war is formed as a practical one with an obvious tendency towards historiosophy, focused primarily on understanding the moral meaning and historical significance of the wars inwhich Russia took part.

The Meaning of the Russian-Ukrainian War from the Perspective of Stefan Baley’s Intentionalism

The article is devoted to the search for the meaning of the Russian-Ukrainian war from the perspective of intentionalism of the Ukrainian philosopher Stefan Baley. This article attempts to actualise Baley’s intentionalist approach to war in the context of the philosophy of war, especially the ethics of warfare. The article analyses from a philosophical point Baley’s views on the meaning of war, attempts to find the meaning of the Russian-Ukrainian war by method of analogy, and formulates several inductive conclusions on the lessons from this war for the future. In conclusion, the article argues that the Russians’ justification of their armed invasion of Ukraine by a common history and the need for self-defense is hypocritical and self-deceptive. The article also suggests that such ‘morality’ of the Russians requires attention from the international community so that everyone in it does not mistake good for evil.

PHILOSOPHY OF WAR: IMPACT ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS

In the context of modern military development, the article highlights the decisive role of scientific and technological progress and the philosophy of war. The article emphasises that technology is not only the main combat capability, but also determines the philosophy of warfare; it also notes that only through scientific and technological innovations can the military initiative be seized and victory achieved. The author emphasises that it is important to consider these innovations in the context of the philosophy of war, which allows them to be adapted to the strategic and tactical requirements of combat operations. The article notes that successful management of a military conflict requires not only technical solutions but also a deep understanding of the philosophy of warfare. It is noted that technical achievements should be balanced by strategic and philosophical aspects of military activities, and the philosophy of war is a key element that determines and guides the development of scientific and technological innovations, emphasising the need for a deep philosophical understanding when introducing new technological solutions into military strategies.

The Philosophy of War in Ukrainian Culture: A Past to Present

The purpose of the article is to highlight the philosophical and ideological understanding and perception of war by the Ukrainian people during its cultural and historical development. Constant wars, which have become an integral part of Ukrainian history and culture, have formed a mental readiness for such challenges. In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the research, the author uses the traditional methodological arsenal for qualitative research, namely: analysis of sources that cover the philosophical dimensions of war in Ukraine; comparative analysis of the mental dimension of war in the past and present of Ukrainian culture; philosophical synergistic approach to determining the formation and interaction of ontological, axiological and anthropological constants of military realities. The results of the study point to the transformation of the philosophy of war in Ukrainian culture in the modern period. The current generation of Ukrainians perceives war in a new way and positions its realities in the context of cultural and historical national development and at the individual level of influence. Historically, for a long time, the wars that unfolded on the territory of Ukraine did not have a nationally oriented vector. Therefore, for the Ukrainian culture, the philosophy of war was mainly correlated with the existential aspects of other state entities, focusing on human manifestations (heroism, courage, fear, pain, suffering). The present day has added to these elements the value aspect of national identity. A promising area of research on the philosophy of war in Ukrainian culture is the actualisation of the axiological cluster associated with the real historical perspective of the establishment of Ukrainian national identity. Thus, the philosophy of war has always been a relevant concept reflected in the mentality and cultural traditions of Ukrainians.

Philosophy of War: Actual Aspects of I. A. Ilyin’s Ideological Heritage

Introduction. The article examines the military-philosophical heritage of Russian thinker I. A. Ilyin (1883–1954) in the context of modern scientific discourse. Materials and Methods. The theoretical basis of this research is the military-philosophical works of I. A. Ilyin, written within the framework of an organic methodology, which proceeds from the following provisions: all aspects of society are organically interconnected; it is necessary to penetrate into the inner meaning of facts, “into the spiritual significance of historical phenomena”; society and politics develop as living organisms according to their internal laws on the basis of the specific culture of the people; culture is inextricably linked with religion. In accordance with these provisions, religious-philosophical and normative-value approaches were applied to achieve the goal of the article. The materials of scientific publications on the stated problems were also used, the study of which was carried out using general scientific methods of analysis and systematization. Results. The reconstruction of the views of outstanding Russian thinker I. A. Ilyin on the problem of war from the point of view of organic methodology is carried out. The main emphasis is placed on identifying the spiritual meaning and moral contradiction of war. It is shown that, in the philosopher’s logic, the spiritual meaning of war is that during life a person loves “something higher than himself”, and only then he can overcome the spiritual ordeal of war and every burden of life. The difference between the spiritual meaning and the spiritual justification of war is considered. The grounds under which the use of violence is allowed through the categories of “spiritual property”, “free original life” are highlighted. In connection with the problem of the permissibility of violence, homicide, which cannot be justified from a moral point of view, the main moral contradiction of war is shown. Based on the results of the study of modern scientific discourse, the conclusion is made about the actual methodological significance of the military-philosophical heritage of I. A. Ilyin for the analysis and evaluation of the problems of modern (hybrid) war. Discussion and Conclusion. The philosophical understanding of war is conditioned by the multifaceted nature of modern (hybrid) war, the most important component of which, along with armed struggle, is the struggle of the meanings of the existence of civilizations. Its goal is the destruction of the national and cultural values of the people, the introduction of false spiritual and moral ideas about the war. The hybrid war against Russia is being waged today by the so-called collective West, led by the United States. To counter its threats, it is important to form a new knowledge about the war on the basis of the spiritual and moral provisions of I. A. Ilyin’s religious philosophy of war. In modern scientific discourse, the philosopher’s interpretation of war as a spiritual and morally contradictory phenomenon is applied as an actual methodology. Of fundamental methodological importance is the provision on the justification of war as a “morally guilty act” if it is the response of the people to an attack threatening their identity, culture, spiritual heritage, regardless of “who exactly declared war, whether someone occupied someone else’s territory, etc.” Nonviolence with such a threat is “spiritual suicide” and “false hypocrisy”.

Елементи от българската философия на войната през първата половина на ХХ век

The article is a review of basic publications that refer to, relatively speaking, the Bulgarian philosophy of war. This concept includes the numerous attempts for an ontological and value-based interpretation of the Bulgarian combat experience, as well as conceptualization of the war as a social phenomenon by Bulgarian philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, military theorists, etc.

Russian military theory of the first half of the XX century: Attempts to create a philosophy of war

In the modern world, the problems of war are becoming particularly relevant, requiring philosophical reflection. Within the framework of the Russian military theory of the XX century, attempts have already been made to create a philosophy of war. These attempts were aimed at the synthesis of philosophical and military-theoretical knowledge.
 Aim to analyze the concepts of A.A. Kersnovsky, N.N. Golovin and A.E. Snesarev in order to identify the theoretical foundations and tasks of the philosophy of war in the works of these authors.
 Conclusion. In the works of A.A. Kersnovsky, the philosophy of war becomes the national theology of war, in the works of N.N. Golovin, the philosophy of war is transformed into the sociology of war, in the works of A.E. Snesarev, the philosophy of war is understood as a moral and scientific synthesis of military issues.

“Philosophy of War” in Non-Western Intellectual Traditions: the Experience of the Indigenous Population of North America and China

“Philosophy of War” in Non-Western Intellectual Traditions: the Experience of the Indigenous Population of North America and China

A Short Prolegomena to the Philosophy of War, in Four Problems

Is something like a true "philosophy of war"—understood as a coherent system of ideas, or a clearly articulated theoretical posture adequate to fully addressing the enduring chal-lenges of war on a properly philosophical register—at all possible? What follows is an attempt to outline, in four problems, the parameters of any future critique of a philosophy of war: the problem of categories, the problem of representation, the problem of violence, and finally the problem of peace. It is argued that within each horizon delimited by these four problems philosophy encounters a potential limit, one that raises fundamental doubts regarding the cogency of any philosophy of war considered as a systematic enterprise.

PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MILITARY‐TECHNICAL REVOLUTION OF THE XXI CENTURY

At the beginning of the XXI century the term military‐technical revolution (MTR) was increasingly used. The article presents its philosophical analysis and the history of its appearance, gives main features of revolutions, substantiates their number relying on analytical research in the field of hilosophy of society and in the field of philosophy of war, both domestic and foreign experts. The connection between revolution and technical and technological structure of society, on the one hand, and changes in the nature of modern warfare, terms and scale of the development of hostilities, on the other, is shown. Proceeding from traditional philosophical thoughts on philosophy of technology, author focused on transformations characteristic of modern warfare, the importance of ontological and anthropological factors in modern military affairs. Author relies on a wide illustrative material that made it possible to show changes in the sixth military‐technical revolution. As an example (a kind of Case study method), author examines nature of the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and robotic military systems in modern warfare. Based on specific material, author proves that the character of modern warfare is hybrid in nature, but hybridity itself is heterogeneous in nature. The latter made it possible to assert the existence of a transitional period between the sixth and the seventh military‐technical revolutions.

Violence, crime dystopia and the dialectics of (dis)order inThe Purgefilms

Crime dystopia is the cultural site where some of the most gripping fears around the failure to order, civilise and make life secure are expressed. In The Purge film franchise, crime becomes legal in America for a night each year, when violence and destructive impulses are freely discharged and actively encouraged by the US government. This article proposes a critical discussion of some of the criminological themes in the films, reading the institutionalised carnage of Purge night as a metaphor for the systemic violence of the market and further on for liberal governance as a philosophy of war, scarred by the horror of hidden monsters. It then argues that dystopian aesthetics can obscure the failures and antagonisms of the social order in the present, as well as punctuate anti-utopian fears of the future.

The War in the Scientific Discourse of Russia and Austria (Book Review: V.K. Belozorov & A. Dubowy (Eds.) <i>Military Science versus the Science of War in Austria and in Russia = Militärwissenschaften versus Wissenschaft über den Krieg in Österreich und Russland.</i> Moscow: Moscow State Linguistic University, 2021)

The author reviews the collective work Military Sciences versus the Science of War in Austria and in Russia (2021). The reviewed book considers methodological and ideological problems of modern war and its aspects. The author draws attention to several topics, which are important for understanding modern war. The reviewed work is analyzed from the point of view of its contribution to the development of the philosophy of war. The author focuses on the peculiarities of classical researches on war, pays attention to the conceptual and categorical apparatus, conducts a comparative analysis of thoughts and judgments of Russian and Austrian scholars, shows their conceptual vision of everything related to the war. The article considers the approach to the modern science of war. The possibility of its exclusion from the historical process is analyzed. The main factor preventing the elimination of war is a strong social inertia. Analyzing concepts and categories of the philosophy of war, the collective work discussing the art of war, strategy, and the meaning of war. Strategy, even being divided into military and political one, is a part of the art of war. The review’s author considers the views on philosophical foundations of war of Russian and Austrian scholars, who are in search for moral basis for countering this social and political phenomenon. It is noted that analyzing the views on the nature of war of scientists in Austria and Russia, the political ambitions of their nations should be taken into account. The monograph emphasizes that an effective opposition to militarism should be based on an analysis of its nature and the real historical situation.

Peran Intelijen dan Perang Psikologis pada Agresivitas Kampanye Militer Kekaisaran Genghis Khan

The Mongol Empire, which prevailed in the 13th to 14th centuries, was one of the largest empires known in the history of world conquest. The stretch of the empire formed by Genghis Khan almost covers all of Eurasia, whose success story cannot be separated from the exploits of intelligence and psychological warfare that have been applied just like modern wars centuries after. Historical Research analysis in this article will try to juxtapose intelligence theories and Psychological Warfare so that the story of the Mongolian empire can be a valuable lesson for the study of strategy and philosophy of war as a reference for modern military strategy. The existence of a military campaign strategy is actually required to be adaptive in accommodating various war philosophies from any era in order to be able to support the success of each mission and operation. Keywords: Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan, Intelligence, Psychological Warfare, Defense Strategy, Military Campaign

Max Scheler on Fyodor Dostoevsky's Political Orthodoxy and Russian Love for Suffering

The article is an introduction to the first Russian translation of Max Scheler's essay “On Eastern and Western Christianity”, which was published in the collection of articles “War and Reconstruction” (1916) and thus forms part of Scheler's war philosophy. The article presents the polemical context of this essay and establishes a connection with Scheler's axiology and phenomenology as well. Particular attention is paid to the reception of F.M. Dostoevsky among German intellectuals of the early 20th century and the influence of this reception on Scheler's understanding of the ideas of salvation and suffering in the Eastern Church.

Russian Silver Age Philosophy of War: Main Features

The article discusses the main features of the Russian philosophy of war that developed in the first third of the 20th century. The author shows that in Russia, the philosophy of war did not develop as a separate broad line of research but limited itself to only a few meaningful, but rather brief, experiments. Nevertheless, many Russian philosophers (Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vladimir Soloviev, Evgenii Troubetzkoy, Ivan Ilyin, Nikolai Berdyaev, Lev Karsavin and others) left deep, well-founded reasoning about war, which can be reconstructed as a consistent system of views. One of its features is the shift in the focus of considering armed violence from the sociological and political to the anthropological and ethical; the focus is not on war as a social phenomenon, but on the human’s position in war. In this regard, the attitude to war in Russian philosophy is paradoxical. On the one hand, war brings a lot of evil in the form of death of many people and destruction, but, on the other hand, it promotes to the manifestation of the best moral qualities in people, up to selflessness and heroism. Armed violence seems to be a tragedy of the Christian conscience, and each participant must independently find a justification for his participation in the war. Based on the conditions of a difficult moral choice, personal, existential justification may come from the idea that people cannot commit violence with a clear conscience. In this case, the person choosing to participate in a war perceives the battle as his own guilt that should be expiated.

ВОЙНА КАК ОТРИЦАТЕЛЬНОЕ ОТКРОВЕНИЕ: ГРААЛЬ М. ПРИШВИНА И С. БУЛГАКОВА

For the first time in Russian science the article compares Mikhail Prishvin’s philosophy of war and archpriest Sergei Bulgakov’s theology of war on the material of Prishvin’s war diaries of 1914–1941 and S. Bulgakov’s works devoted to the sophiology of suffering (“The Holy Grail” (1932), “Reflections on War” (1940), etc.). The article defines theological contexts of the military theme: the war as a negative revelation, the sophistry of war, the discovery of the truth of God-manhood in war. The mysticism of the “invisible church” of M. Prishvin and S. Bulgakov is compared. It is concluded that the sophiology of S. Bulgakov’s suffering can be regarded as one of the relevant contexts for the philosophy and theology of war in Prishvin’s diaries. Prishvin, like Bulga- kov, describes the truth of the super-personal collective, revealed in the cross sacrifice of the war Calvary (the images of the “Lay Chalice”, the sprout of the “invisible church”, “the great Conciliarity of those alive”). Along with that, defining the spiritual meaning of war, Prishvin raises the question about over- coming war as an idea born of indifferent theoretical thinking, which denies the personal whole, the intuition of the “other”.

The Conservative Revolution During the Weimar Republic and its Impact on the Young German Generation in the Years 1919–1933

In the historical and political literature we will not encounter such a diverse and, in its impact, individually ambiguous term as the “conservative revolution”. Although it is possible to place it within one of its creators, in the application of its practices we will come across many substantive discrepancies. This is certainly due to the creative idea of the people and the language that the revolutionaries used. In the basis of this historical-political dialogue, although the dissertation is concerned only with the period of the Weimar Republic, we can see the changes already taking place in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Thus to this day Friedrich Nietzsche is regarded as the spiritual father of the “conservative revolution”. The cult of the “superman” (Übermensch) he created (Übermensch) broke the ties with the hitherto values of Christianity in favour of crossing out God's universe in the world. For many intellectuals, it represented a theoretical-cognitive pluralism in the recording of moral tables for modern humanity. Nietzschean nihilism, as a construct of the “superman”, uprooted youth from bourgeois structures, and thus from their duty of service to their elders, guiding them towards the heroic realm. In its dimension, it overcame the statu quo of the time in favour of renewal and liberation towards the inner evolution of the “superman”. It resulted from the constant struggle and persistence of a reality which the “superman” then created himself. The significance of the Nietzschean construct for the fundamental ideas of the “conservative revolution” was best summed up by Thomas Mann. In his original reflections on the apolitical man, he shattered the previous norms of political structure in favour of the heroism awakening in youth. Subsequent intellectuals who were unquestionably counted among the founders of the revolutionary idea of the Weimar period agreed with this thought: Ernst Jünger, Ernst Julius Jung, Carl Schmidt, Wilhelm Stapel. The acolyte of the young revolutionaries' thought became the First World War. It broke the link with the pre-industrial mentality in favour of militant-apologists, from whom a new state elite was to crystallise. It was to create a hierarchy of cadres based on society. Thus, among the soldiers on the battlefield, the idea of defence of the homeland and sacrifice on the altar of war was born. Internally, it created an anthropology and philosophy of war to which the German youth was called. This sense of struggle was to evolve from defeat into a new different Germany: “we had to lose the war in order to win Germany”. The National Socialists, after coming to power in 1933, were keen to use the educational concept of the „conservative revolution” and the youth organisations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Nazi pedagogy drew on these reservoirs as a model for creating the Third Reich's ideal of the “new man”.

Linguosophy of war and man in works of fiction by Borys Humenіuk

This article investigates the wartime poetry and prose by Borys Humenіuk dedicated to the current war in Eastern Ukraine started in 2014. Being of different genres, his works are marked by common through associative and figurative lines. Emphasis is placed on the ways of verbalization of the philosophy of war as an author’s interpretation of concrete sensory images provided by the artist as a direct participant in hostilities. There are two main associative and figurative lines, i.e., war — man — nature and life — death. The actualization of the military lexicon in the Ukrainian writing style is emphasized. Emphasis is also placed on the stylistic functions of a national and general cultural set of symbols (words) which reveal archetypal semantics in the structure of metaphorical and epithetical images. This article discusses such individual features of Humeniuk’s language creativity as an actualization of stylistics of a numeral, number, and digital code. Humeniuk’s poetic and prose language contains lyric-epic characteristic features. The epithets and metaphors of end-to-end associative image lines have been imprinted by the sublingual stylistic category of subjectivization. Linguosophy of man and war actualizes archetypal associative and figurative components, sacred, folklore, and surrealist (mythogenic) semantics of real phe nomena. The epithets and metaphors of Humeniuk’s Poems from the War and 100 Short Stories about the War created and united the military, socio-political, and intimately lyrical segments of the Ukrainian language picture of the world. These verbal and figurative mechanisms actualized the concrete sensory content, semantic, conversational casual and ironic, filling of certain cross-cutting lines. Humeniuk’s language attracts attention by expressive individual worldviews, the characteristic structural diversity of epithetics, intellectualized metaphors, which interact comprehensively and create deeply psychologized pictures of life during the war. Keywords: language of fiction, through associative-figurative lines, metaphor, epithet, numeral, wordsymbol, archetype.

Carl von Clausewitz and his Philosophy of War: The Evolution of a Reputation, 1831–2021

AbstractThis article is concerned with the evolution of the reputation of the Prussian soldier and philosopher of war, Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831). It examines developments in debates about the reception, and relevance, of Clausewitz's work for strategic thought in both the historical and contemporary contexts. This article takes note of many of the misperceptions and misinterpretations directed at Clausewitz's work since his death. It argues that much of the criticism directed at Clausewitz is rooted in a visceral dislike of past proponents of Clausewitz for their aggressive and militaristic policies. An appreciation of this history is nevertheless useful for facilitating accurate interpretations of Clausewitz's work. Finally, the article argues that the notion of Clausewitz as advocate of militarism and aggressive war has been largely discredited. Indeed, in today's Federal Republic of Germany, the reformers masterminding the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon, of whom Clausewitz was one, and the resistance involved in the bomb plot of 20 July 1944, have now come to represent a useable historical tradition.

Strategy (Part I): Conceptual Foundations

AbstractStrategies are mentioned across a variety of domains, from business ethics, to the philosophy of war, philosophy of sport, game theory, and others. However, despite their wide use, very little has been said about how to think about what strategies are or how they relate to other prominently discussed concepts. In this article, I probe the close connection between strategies and plans, which have been much more thoroughly characterized in the philosophy of action. After highlighting the challenges of analyzing strategies in terms of plans, I show how the work done on the connection between plans and intentions can inspire further questions about the nature of strategy. I conclude by showing how one particular innovation in the understanding of plans—how they can be more or less partial—can be used to help us to mark what makes for a good strategy.