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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 9/27/07 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
July 7, 2004 Local educator shares insight into pacifism By Anna Krejci
Author Andrew Fiala, associate professor of humanistic studies, said in his book he is trying to ride the fence between absolute pacifism and extreme use of violence at the opposite end of the spectrum.
"We can afford to leave our sticks at home sometimes, more often than we think," he said. Fiala structured his book around the just war theory, which states those proposing war should have the right reasons, goals, authority and chance of success. War should be the final recourse and the outcome of the war should be proportional to the means, according to the theory.
While Fiala believes the just war theory is a guide to waging wars, the average citizen does not know which wars are fair and reasonable.
When waging war on Iraq was an option and not a milestone in world history, Fiala answered his students' questions about whether a pre-emptive war against Iraq was justified with another question.
"What would Socrates do?" he said he asked them.
"Socrates always asked what do you know, what are you sure of," Fiala said.
He said citizens should learn as much as they can, acknowledging that the media filter information and governments are biased sources of information.
What to do with all of these questionable answers?
"You should be reluctant to use violence, you should hold back, and the burden of proof needs to be thrown against those who are proposing violence," he said, "Skepticism, for me, leads to pacifism."
He said what the average citizen can do to find out the real answers is to know what one does not know.
"We think we know so much about all these things we couldn't possibly know about," he said, such as the Middle East, Islam, military training and the protocol for warfare.
In Fiala's opinion, the war in Iraq was not justified according to the just war theory. Fiala said the argument that Iraq was a threat to the United States because it was possibly selling weapons of mass destruction to terrorists was not strong enough. A stronger argument for war with Iraq lies in the humanitarian need to rid an oppressed country of a dictator, but doing that through war was not the appropriate means, he said. Fiala said he believes in the good of spreading democracy throughout the world, but again said war is not the way to achieve the goal.
He also said questions should not stop with whether or not a war is justified. "Our cultural imagination is fueled by violence," he said, adding part of the reason why some quickly respond to being the target of violence by supporting more violence in retaliation.
Fiala referred to prominent figures of the country's imaginations, like Tom Cruise's character in "Top Gun" and "The Terminator", played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, California's governor.
"You combine the media, and you combine our lack of information and our cultural imaginations, it's no surprise we go to war," he said.
The message in his book is unique in that it encourages the average citizen — and not just national defense leaders — to use the just war theory, he said.
Fiala said citizens have a role to challenge the will of defense leaders, making them consider whether war is necessary.
The book also explores how the just war theory is implemented by citizens.
"That's a primary focus I see very little of in the academic literature," he said.
Fiala has served on the faculty at UWGB since 1999. He coordinated public talks entitled, "Ethics and the War on Terrorism" in the fall of 2002. He has written another book, "The Philosopher's Voice," and other articles.
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