William James was an American philosopher. James studied at
Harvard, first as a scientist before becoming a philosopher. William James wrote
that war kept civilizations unified. He believed that a threat kept political
unity and prevented people from stepping too far out of line. However, actions
taken by nations to create credible threats have often caused them to stumble
into war with other nations. People have tended to rely on threats for civic
bonding. The author’s purpose of this essay was to enlighten readers on the
struggle of the darker side of human nature. This dark side only falls in line
when there’s a threat to the safety of the population. This essay argues that
people need a threat for them to join in unity. I believe the audience of this
essay is the general population, as it can serve as an eye-opener. The
eye-opener is that it enlightens people on how our darker natures keep us from
being at peace. Because we need a threat to fall in line, people are constantly
at war, threatening each other, or finding ways to hurt one another. One
analogy that James used was comparing the soldiers in the wars of ancient Greece
to pirates. He wrote, “Pride, gold, women, slaves, excitement were their only
motives” (James 46). Pirates are thought of negatively, as they plunder and
steal. By saying the people in these wars were like pirates shows that they had
bad intentions. James wrote this essay in 1910. During that time, America was
involved in a border dispute with Mexico. This Border War began in the same
year that “The Moral Equivalent of War” was written. I do not think that
William James accomplished his purpose. Throughout this twelve-page essay, I
was very confused as to what I was reading, and frequently had to look things
up. I feel as though twelve pages give ample time to convey a message, but
James fell flat.
This image shows how a nation tries to create its
own threats to keep the people unified. These
threats end up backfiring, causing more danger.
No comments:
Post a Comment