Justifying the Obligation to Die
War, Ethics, and Political Obligation with Illustrations from Zionism
Published on 16. May 2009
Book
Hardback
296 pages
978-0-7391-2973-9 (ISBN)
Description
One of the state's key features is its ability to oblige its citizens to risk their lives on its behalf by being sent into war. However, what is it about the state (or its equivalent) that makes this obligation justifiable? Justifying the Obligation to Die is the first monograph to explore systematically how this obligation has been justified. Using key texts from political philosophy and just war theory, it provides a critical survey of how this obligation has been justified and, using illustrations from Zionist thought and practice, demonstrates how the various arguments for the obligation have functioned.
The obligation to risk one's life for the state is often presumed by theorists and practitioners who take the state for granted, but for the Zionists, a people without a state but in search of one and who have little history of state-based political thought, it became necessary to explain this obligation. As such, this book examines Zionism as a Jewish political theory, reading it alongside the tradition of Western political thought, and critiques how Zionist thought and practice sought to justify this obligation to risk one's life in war-what Michael Walzer termed "the obligation to die." Finally, turning to the political thought of Hannah Arendt, the author suggests how the obligation could become justifiable, although never entirely justified. For the obligation to become at all justifiable, the type of politics that the state enables must respect human diversity and individuality and restrict violence so that violence is not a continuation of politics.
The obligation to risk one's life for the state is often presumed by theorists and practitioners who take the state for granted, but for the Zionists, a people without a state but in search of one and who have little history of state-based political thought, it became necessary to explain this obligation. As such, this book examines Zionism as a Jewish political theory, reading it alongside the tradition of Western political thought, and critiques how Zionist thought and practice sought to justify this obligation to risk one's life in war-what Michael Walzer termed "the obligation to die." Finally, turning to the political thought of Hannah Arendt, the author suggests how the obligation could become justifiable, although never entirely justified. For the obligation to become at all justifiable, the type of politics that the state enables must respect human diversity and individuality and restrict violence so that violence is not a continuation of politics.
Reviews / Votes
This book breathes new life into an old but, today, largely forgotten question-is there an obligation to die or risk one's life for the state in war? Ranging widely over western sources, and innovatively reading Zionism as political philosophy, Ilan Zvi Baron has fashioned a humane and sophisticated account of the kind of politics and polity worth dying for. -- Geoffrey Brahm Levey, University of New South Wales Baron's careful exploration of various justifications for the obligation to die for the state-an issue which, he rightly notes, is oddly overlooked in the recent literature-is timely, interesting, and thought-provoking. -- Cecile Fabre, University of EdinburghMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
634 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7391-2973-9 (9780739129739)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Ilan Zvi Baron
Justifying the Obligation to Die
War, Ethics, and Political Obligation with Illustrations from Zionism
E-Book
06/2009
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€126.09
Available for download
Ilan Zvi Baron
Justifying the Obligation to Die
War, Ethics, and Political Obligation with Illustrations from Zionism
E-Book
06/2009
1st Edition
Lexington Books
€124.99
Available for download
Person
Ilan Zvi Baron has been a Research Fellow at the Institut Barcelona D' Estudis Internacionals and is a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for International Studies at the London School of Economics. He has recently been appointed to a Lectureship in International Political Theory at Durham University.
Content
Chapter 1 Introduction
2 "If only I could die for him..."
3 Us Fight? But We're Jewish!
4 Argument Structure
Chapter 5 Chapter 1. Just War and Obligation
6 An Introduction to Political Obligation and Just War
7 Forgetting about Obligation
8 Conclusion
Chapter 9 Chapter 2. The Jewish Question and Zionism
10 Introduction
11 Material and Ideational Origins
12 Zionisms, Obligation, Redemption
13 Conclusion
Chapter 14 Chapter 3. Aristotle, War, the Good Life, and Zionism
15 Introduction
16 Aristotle and the Just War Tradition
17 Aristotle and the Justice of War
18 The Subject in a Normative Space
19 From Ancient Greek Thought to Modern Zionism
20 Zionism as the Political Realm: A Jewish Political Theory
21 A Zionist Obligation to Die
22 Conclusion
Chapter 23 Chapter 4. For the State
24 Introduction
25 The Common Good: Thomas Aquinas
26 The Common Life: GWF Hegel
27 An Obligation to Die for the Community
28 Nation, Freedom, Spirit, and Obligation
29 Conclusion
Chapter 30 Chapter 5. Salvation
31 Introduction
32 Saint Augustine
33 Thomas Aquinas and the Religious Argument
34 Religious Zionism: An Obligation to Die for the Future
35 Religious Zionism and Militarism
36 Religion, Land, and Being Obliged to Die
37 The Problems of Messianic Territorial Politics
38 Conclusion
Chapter 39 Chapter 6. Wishful Thinking: Consent, Contract, and the Obligation to Die
40 Introduction
41 Thomas Hobbes
42 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
43 Immanuel Kant
44 Michael Walzer
45 Consent and Choice
46 The Jewish Experience of the Human/Citizen Dichotomy
47 Conclusion
Chapter 48 Chapter 7. Justifying the Obligation to Die
49 Introduction
50 The Death of Socrates
51 Politics and Plurality
52 Arendt and the Obligation to Die
53 Political Alternatives in Zionism
54 The Problem of Violence
55 Conclusion
Chapter 56 Conclusion: The Obligation to Die
57 Judging the Obligation to Die
58 Politics, Morality, the Obligation to Die, and Zionism
59 The State and the Obligation to Die
2 "If only I could die for him..."
3 Us Fight? But We're Jewish!
4 Argument Structure
Chapter 5 Chapter 1. Just War and Obligation
6 An Introduction to Political Obligation and Just War
7 Forgetting about Obligation
8 Conclusion
Chapter 9 Chapter 2. The Jewish Question and Zionism
10 Introduction
11 Material and Ideational Origins
12 Zionisms, Obligation, Redemption
13 Conclusion
Chapter 14 Chapter 3. Aristotle, War, the Good Life, and Zionism
15 Introduction
16 Aristotle and the Just War Tradition
17 Aristotle and the Justice of War
18 The Subject in a Normative Space
19 From Ancient Greek Thought to Modern Zionism
20 Zionism as the Political Realm: A Jewish Political Theory
21 A Zionist Obligation to Die
22 Conclusion
Chapter 23 Chapter 4. For the State
24 Introduction
25 The Common Good: Thomas Aquinas
26 The Common Life: GWF Hegel
27 An Obligation to Die for the Community
28 Nation, Freedom, Spirit, and Obligation
29 Conclusion
Chapter 30 Chapter 5. Salvation
31 Introduction
32 Saint Augustine
33 Thomas Aquinas and the Religious Argument
34 Religious Zionism: An Obligation to Die for the Future
35 Religious Zionism and Militarism
36 Religion, Land, and Being Obliged to Die
37 The Problems of Messianic Territorial Politics
38 Conclusion
Chapter 39 Chapter 6. Wishful Thinking: Consent, Contract, and the Obligation to Die
40 Introduction
41 Thomas Hobbes
42 Jean-Jacques Rousseau
43 Immanuel Kant
44 Michael Walzer
45 Consent and Choice
46 The Jewish Experience of the Human/Citizen Dichotomy
47 Conclusion
Chapter 48 Chapter 7. Justifying the Obligation to Die
49 Introduction
50 The Death of Socrates
51 Politics and Plurality
52 Arendt and the Obligation to Die
53 Political Alternatives in Zionism
54 The Problem of Violence
55 Conclusion
Chapter 56 Conclusion: The Obligation to Die
57 Judging the Obligation to Die
58 Politics, Morality, the Obligation to Die, and Zionism
59 The State and the Obligation to Die