My case for pacifism, to recap, comes down to three simple premises. The first two are empirical:
Premise #1: The short-run costs of war are clearly awful. [Empirical claim about immediate effects of war].
Premise #2: The long-run benefits of war are highly uncertain. [Empirical claim about people’s ability to accurately forecast the long-run effects of war].These empirical claims imply pacifism when combined with a bland moral premise:
Premise #3: For a war to be morally justified, the expected long-run benefits have to substantially exceed its short-run costs. [Moral claim, inspired by Judith Jarvis Thomson’s forced organ donation hypothetical].
Bryan Caplan, “How Evil Are Politicians?: Essays on Demagoguery.” p. 125
Dr. Bryan Caplan is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University and New York Times bestselling author.
Buy Caplan’s new book, How Evil Are Politicians? on Amazon.
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