Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word pacifism was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901.The Abolition of War: the Peace Movement in Britain, 1914–1919 by Keith Robbins. University of Wales Press, 1976. (p. 10). A related term is ahimsa (to do no harm), which is a core philosophy in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. While modern connotations are recent, having been explicated since the 19th century, ancient references abound.
In modern times, interest was revived by Leo Tolstoy in his late works, particularly in The Kingdom of God Is Within You. Mahatma Gandhi propounded the practice of steadfast nonviolent opposition which he called "satyagraha", instrumental in its role in the Indian independence movement. Its effectiveness served as inspiration to Martin Luther King Jr., James Lawson, James Bevel,James L. Bevel, The Strategist of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement" by Randy Kryn, a paper in David Garrow's 1989 book We Shall Overcome, Volume II, Carlson Publishing Company Thích Nhất Hạnh,"Searching for the Enemy of Man", in Nhat Nanh, Ho Huu Tuong, Tam Ich, Bui Giang, Pham Cong Thien. Dialogue. Saigon: La Boi, 1965. pp. 11–20., archived on the African-American Involvement in the Vietnam War website, King's Journey: 1964 – April 4, 1967 and many others in the civil rights movement.
Definition Pacifism covers a spectrum of views, including the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved, calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war (institutional pacifism), opposition to any organization of society through governmental force (anarchist or libertarian pacifism), rejection of the use of physical violence to obtain political, economic or social goals, the obliteration of force, and opposition to violence under any circumstance, even defence of self and others. Historians of pacifism Peter Brock and Thomas Paul Socknat define pacifism "in the sense generally accepted in English-speaking areas" as "an unconditional rejection of all forms of warfare".Challenge to Mars: Essays on Pacifism from 1918 to 1945. Edited by Brock and Socknat University of Toronto Press, 1999 (p. ix) Philosopher Jenny Teichman defines the main form of pacifism as "anti-warism", the rejection of all forms of warfare.Pacifism and the Just War: A Study in Applied Philosophy by Jenny Teichman. Basil Blackwell, 1986 Teichman's beliefs have been summarized by Brian Orend as "A pacifist rejects war and believes there are no moral grounds which can justify resorting to war. War, for the pacifist, is always wrong." In a sense the philosophy is based on the idea that the ends do not justify the means.War and International Justice: a Kantian perspective by Brian Orend. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press, 2000. pp. 145–146 The word pacific denotes conciliatory. (q.v. the Pacific Ocean
Moral considerations
Pacifism may be based on moral principles (a deontological view) or pragmatism (a consequentialist view). Principled pacifism holds that at some point along the spectrum from war to interpersonal physical violence, such violence becomes morally wrong. Pragmatic pacifism holds that the costs of war and interpersonal violence are so substantial that better ways of resolving disputes must be found.
Nonviolence Some pacifists follow principles of nonviolence, believing that nonviolent action is morally superior and/or most effective. Some however, support physical violence for emergency defence of self or others. Others support destruction of property in such emergencies or for conducting symbolic acts of resistance like pouring red paint to represent blood on the outside of military recruiting offices or entering air force bases and hammering on military aircraft.
Not all nonviolent resistance (sometimes also called civil resistance) is based on a fundamental rejection of all violence in all circumstances. Many leaders and participants in such movements, while recognizing the importance of using non-violent methods in particular circumstances, have not been absolute pacifists. Sometimes, as with the civil rights movement's march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, they have called for armed protection. The interconnections between civil resistance and factors of force are numerous and complex.Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present, Oxford University Press, 2009. See . Includes chapters by specialists on the various movements.
Types Absolute pacifism An absolute pacifist is described by the BBC as one who believes that human life is so valuable, that a human should never be killed and war should never be conducted, even in self-defense (except for non-violence type). The principle is described as difficult to abide by consistently, due to violence not being available as a tool to aid a person who is being harmed or killed. It is further claimed that such a pacifist could logically argue that violence leads to more undesirable results than non-violence.
Conditional pacifism Tapping into just war theory, conditional pacifism represents a spectrum of positions departing from positions of absolute pacifism. One such conditional pacifism is the common pacificism, which may allow defense but is not advocating a default defensivism or even interventionism.
Police actions and national liberation Although all pacifists are opposed to war between nation states, there have been occasions where pacifists have supported military conflict in the case of civil war or revolution."When the American Civil War broke out ... both the American Peace Society and many former nonresistants argued that the conflict was not properly war but rather police action on a grand scale" Brock, Peter, Freedom from War: Nonsectarian Pacifism, 1814–1914 University of Toronto Press, 1991 , (p. 176) For instance, during the American Civil War, both the American Peace Society and some former members of the Non-Resistance Society supported the Union's military campaign, arguing they were carrying out a "police action" against the Confederacy, whose act of Secession they regarded as criminal.Ziegler, Valarie H., The Advocates of Peace in Antebellum America. Mercer University Press, 2001 (p. 158). Following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, French pacifist René Gérin urged support for the Spanish Republic.Ingram, Norman. The Politics of Dissent : Pacifism in France, 1919–1939. University of Edinburgh, 1988. (p. 219) Gérin argued that the Spanish Nationalists were "comparable to an individual enemy" and the Republic's war effort was equivalent to the action of a domestic police force suppressing crime.
In the 1960s, some pacifists associated with the New Left supported wars of national liberation and supported groups such as the Viet Cong and the Algerian FLN, arguing peaceful attempts to liberate such nations were no longer viable, and war was thus the only option.Pacifism in the Twentieth Century, by Peter Brock and Nigel Young. Syracuse University Press, New York, 1999 (p. 296)
History Early traditions
During the Warring States period in China, the pacifist Mohist School opposed aggressive war between the feudal states, using their famed defensive strategies to defend smaller states from invasion from larger states, hoping to dissuade feudal lords from costly warfare. The Seven Military Classics of ancient China view warfare negatively, and as a last resort. For example, the Three Strategies of Huang Shigong says: "As for the military, it is not an auspicious instrument; it is the way of heaven to despise it", and the Wei Liaozi writes: "As for the military, it is an inauspicious instrument; as for conflict and contention, it runs counter to virtue". The Taoist scripture "Classic of Great Peace (Taiping jing)" foretells "the coming Age of Great Peace (Taiping)". The Taiping Jing advocates "a world full of peace".
The Lemba religion of southern French Congo, along with its symbolic herb, is named for pacifism: "lemba, lemba" (peace, peace), describes the action of the plant lemba-lemba (Brillantaisia patula T. Anders). Likewise in Cabinda, "Lemba is the spirit of peace, as its name indicates."
In Ancient Greece, pacifism seems not to have existed except as a broad moral guideline against violence between individuals. Aristophanes, in his play Lysistrata, creates the scenario of an Athenian woman's anti-war sex strike during the Peloponnesian War of 431–404 BCE, and the play has gained an international reputation for its anti-war message. Nevertheless, it is both fictional and comical, and its message seems to stem from frustration with the existing conflict (then in its twentieth year) rather than from a philosophical position against violence or war. Equally fictional is the nonviolent protest of Hegetorides of Thasos. Euripides also expressed strong anti-war ideas in his work, especially The Trojan Women."Peace, War and Philosophy" by F. S. Northedge, in Paul Edwards, The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Volume 6, Collier Macmillan, 1967 (pp. 63–67). In Plato's Republic Socrates makes the pacifistic argument that a just person would not harm anyone. In Plato's earlier work Crito Socrates asserts that it is not moral to return evil with further evil, an original moral conception, according to Gregory Vlastos, that undermines all justifications for war and violence.
Several Roman writers rejected the militarism of Roman society and gave voice to anti-war sentiments, including Propertius, Tibullus and Ovid.Restless Youth in Ancient Rome, Emiel Eyben, Routledge, 2004 , p. 194. The Stoic Seneca the Younger criticised warfare in his book Naturales quaestiones (c. 65 CE).Panorama of the Classical World by Nigel Spivey and Michael Squire. Getty Publications, 2011, (p. 200). Maximilian of Tebessa was a Christian conscientious objector, killed for refusing to be conscripted.The Riddle of Saint Maximilian of Tebessa by Peter Brock. University of Toronto Press, 2000.
Christianity
Throughout history many have understood Jesus of Nazareth to have been a pacifist, drawing on his Sermon on the Mount. In the sermon Jesus stated that one should "not resist an evildoer" and promoted his turn the other cheek philosophy. "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well... Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." When one of his apostles drew a sword to defend Jesus, Jesus told him, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52).
There are those, however, who deny that Jesus was a pacifist and state that Jesus never said not to fight, citing examples from the New Testament. One such instance portrays an angry Jesus driving dishonest market traders from the temple. A frequently quoted passage is Luke 22:36: "He said to them, 'But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one.'" Pacifists have typically explained that verse as Jesus fulfilling prophecy, since in the next verse, Jesus continues to say: "It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment." Others have interpreted the non-pacifist statements in the New Testament to be related to self-defense or to be metaphorical and state that on no occasion did Jesus shed blood or urge others to shed blood.
Middle Ages