Notions of war in the history of political ideas can be divided in 4 fundamental ideas followinga typology which is inherent in the Kantian war-theory: nature, law, culture, politics. The natureconcept is treated in Machiavel where he speaks about the lion- and fox-character of the"nuovo principe" as chief of warfare. The law concept is represented in the "relectiones" ofVitoria, which treats about the mandate of the Spanish crown for warfare in favour of Christianmission in the new indian countries. The concept of culture, or more exactly of liberalcivilization, is given by Benjamin Constant which blames the aggression of Napoleon againstRussia; his thesis is that liberal societies don't need the institution of war. The fourth conceptis a political one. Clausewitz gave the famous definition of war as the "continuation of politicswith alternative means"; other types of political wars, characterized by absolute hostility, arerepresented in the partisan-theory of Carl Schmitt. In sight of the actual global situation theconcept of law is underlined as right and urgent too.
Keywords:
notions of war typology - natural concept - law concept - cultural concept - political concept
Weinacht, P.-L. (2010). Krieg denken. Eine typologische orientierung aus der jüngeren politischen ideengeschichte. Revista Chilena De Historia Del Derecho, (21), Pág. 687–702. https://doi.org/10.5354/rchd.v0i22.22082
