Existential Threat as a Casus Belli
Existential threat is often mentioned in political rhetoric. While it is mostly used to denote threats to humanity as a whole, like climate change or AI, it is also used on a smaller scale. Existential threat to a state or a similar entity is often evoked too. Such a threat is considered grave enou...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The NKUA Applied Philosophy Research Laboratory
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Conatus - Journal of Philosophy |
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| Online Access: | https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/Conatus/article/view/35080 |
| _version_ | 1797369679643148288 |
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| author | Sergey Kucherenko |
| author_facet | Sergey Kucherenko |
| author_sort | Sergey Kucherenko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Existential threat is often mentioned in political rhetoric. While it is mostly used to denote threats to humanity as a whole, like climate change or AI, it is also used on a smaller scale. Existential threat to a state or a similar entity is often evoked too. Such a threat is considered grave enough to justify war and – possibly – the use of nuclear weapons. In the present article, the author aims to deconstruct the notion of “existential threat” in relation to the state and show that it should not be used as a reason to go to war. The main argument is that the state has a specific mode of existence which makes it impossible to speak of state death unambiguously. Therefore, there can be no apparent threats to its existence. The author proposes a normative interpretation of the state. The state is understood as a project of a certain group, or even an individual, therefore the discussion of “existential threat” to a state should be dropped in favor of a more grounded evaluation of potential gains and losses by different social groups and political parties.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T17:50:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a6aea21bab094e62b423ea5ea47f471d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2653-9373 2459-3842 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T17:50:21Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | The NKUA Applied Philosophy Research Laboratory |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Conatus - Journal of Philosophy |
| spelling | doaj.art-a6aea21bab094e62b423ea5ea47f471d2024-01-02T08:48:59ZengThe NKUA Applied Philosophy Research LaboratoryConatus - Journal of Philosophy2653-93732459-38422023-12-018210.12681/cjp.35080Existential Threat as a Casus BelliSergey Kucherenko0HSE University Moscow, Russian Federation Existential threat is often mentioned in political rhetoric. While it is mostly used to denote threats to humanity as a whole, like climate change or AI, it is also used on a smaller scale. Existential threat to a state or a similar entity is often evoked too. Such a threat is considered grave enough to justify war and – possibly – the use of nuclear weapons. In the present article, the author aims to deconstruct the notion of “existential threat” in relation to the state and show that it should not be used as a reason to go to war. The main argument is that the state has a specific mode of existence which makes it impossible to speak of state death unambiguously. Therefore, there can be no apparent threats to its existence. The author proposes a normative interpretation of the state. The state is understood as a project of a certain group, or even an individual, therefore the discussion of “existential threat” to a state should be dropped in favor of a more grounded evaluation of potential gains and losses by different social groups and political parties. https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/Conatus/article/view/35080just causejust warexistential threatstateontology |
| spellingShingle | Sergey Kucherenko Existential Threat as a Casus Belli Conatus - Journal of Philosophy just cause just war existential threat state ontology |
| title | Existential Threat as a Casus Belli |
| title_full | Existential Threat as a Casus Belli |
| title_fullStr | Existential Threat as a Casus Belli |
| title_full_unstemmed | Existential Threat as a Casus Belli |
| title_short | Existential Threat as a Casus Belli |
| title_sort | existential threat as a casus belli |
| topic | just cause just war existential threat state ontology |
| url | https://ejournals.epublishing.ekt.gr/index.php/Conatus/article/view/35080 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sergeykucherenko existentialthreatasacasusbelli |