Is Peace Possible?

Paper Summary:

This paper examines views by thinkers and philosophers such as Thucydides, Niccolo Machiavelli, Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes and Immanuel Kant to understand their views on the possibility of peace in contemporary times.

From the Paper:

"This famous philosopher also talks about human nature, as Grotius did, but he also shows that he is an unrealistic idealist, when he writes (430) that the "sheer exhaustion" from all the wars "must eventually perform what goodwill ought to have done but failed to do: each state must be organized internally in such a way that the head of state, for whom the war actually costs nothing...must no longer have the deciding vote on whether war is to be declared or not..." Kant takes his idealism a step further (432) by saying that he cannot see human nature "so deeply immersed in evil that practical moral reason will not triumph in the end..." It would be nice if today's world worked that way, but it doesn't, and as a result, peace is not possible in a world of so many nations with so many varied interests and agendas."

More papers on Is Peace Possible?:

• Research Paper # 144775 : "Is Peace Possible Between India and Pakistan?"
• Research Paper # 57163 : "UN and Peace Maintenance"
• Term Paper # 145409 : "Interfaith Dialogue and Peace Negotiation"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: