"That's more than we know": The Principle of Responsibility and the Common Soldier in William Shakespeare's Plays
This paper considers literary texts that foreground the combatants' view. The focus lies on the soldiers' perspective in general and on just war theory!s principle of responsibility in particular. The distinction between jus ad bellum and jus in bello as discussed by just war theorists all...
| Published in: | Interdisciplinary journal for religion and transformation in contemporary society |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
[2018]
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| In: |
Interdisciplinary journal for religion and transformation in contemporary society
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Shakespeare, William 1564-1616
/ Drama
/ Soldier
/ Sense of responsibility
/ Just war
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy NCD Political ethics |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This paper considers literary texts that foreground the combatants' view. The focus lies on the soldiers' perspective in general and on just war theory!s principle of responsibility in particular. The distinction between jus ad bellum and jus in bello as discussed by just war theorists allows us to distinguish between different spheres of responsibility and this entails that soldiers may be not responsible for the war as such, only for their conduct. However, this view is contested, as many just war theorists today argue that we ought to makeadistinction between just and unjust soldiers. This paper discusses literary texts that seem to counter this view. Two playwrights, William Shakespeare and Gregory Burke, writing war plays for the stage over four hundred years apart, go to great lengths to show their audience the common soldiers! perspective on the justice of the wars they fight in. This paper argues that both playwrights draw a line between jus ad bellumand jus in bello. Both Shakespeare and Burke seem to emphasize deliberately that soldiers cannot beheld accountable for the injustice of the causes they are obligated to fight for. |
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| ISSN: | 2364-2807 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Interdisciplinary journal for religion and transformation in contemporary society
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.14220/jrat.2018.4.1.38 |