Issue of Pacifism

Cheyney C. Ryan writes about the issue of pacifism and when it is acceptable for a pacifist to engage in self-defense. Ryan first considers the definition of pacifism, noting that many people believe the pacifist believes that all violence or coercion is wrong. Ryan prefers to focus only on the pacifist's opposition to killing, leading to his opposition to war in any form. Certain critics have raised the idea that the pacifist's position is incoherent if he or she allows no actions at all in defense of the right to life. However, Ryan says this is not the pacifist position at all:

The pacifist's position does seem to violate a fairly intuitive principle of proportionality, that in defense of one's rights one may take actions who severity is equal to, though not greater than, the threat against one. This. . . allows killing so as not to be killed (265).

Ryan finds that in order to kill another person, it is necessary to create a sense of distance between oneself and the other person, and he says that the pacifist is not able to create that distance. The pacifist knows that others can create this distance, and he or she believes that fact reflects badly on those other people because they can be less sensitive and perhaps less moral as a consequence. This is Ryan's main point about the origin of the pacifist position:

What should now be evident is the sense in which that moral position [pacifism] is motivated by a picture of the personal relationship and outlook one s

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ot to kill is difficult and cannot be made simple by taking either a pacifist or a non-pacifist position. Either position may force the individual to make a choice, and in doing so, the individual will have to consider all the ramifications and come to a conclusion. As Ryan states, the real problem is that the choice does not flow naturally from either position but from the circumstances of the individual case filtered through a moral screen. Ryan's argument is well-made but in the end inconclusive. While that is in a sense his point, his method of presentation fails fully to state either the pacifist or the non-pacifist point of view or to take a strong position with reference to either. He instead offers what he sees as an objective view that instead reads as wavering from one view to the other, and ultimately this leaves the reader uncertain what Ryan's position may be and how to assess his presentation. Ryan begins by sounding critical of the non-pacifist's position against the pacifist, but he then seems to shift to the point of view of the non-pacifist. Actually, though, he is trying in the beginning to make the argument that making the argument for either position on the basis of rights, namely the right to life,

Category: Government - I