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David Hume’s views on wars

David Hume (1711-1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist. As David Hume’s views were different than most international relations academics suppose, his ideas of the war could be significantly analysed to understand the social justices.

War

Firstly, Hume was uneasy about the war, but he thought that the war was one of the major institutions of international relations (Haar, 2008). He emphasised that the war was inevitability, and did not least to keep balance of international powers (Haar, 2008). The war did not only commencing between two nations, but also would drag in their neighbours.

Secondly, Hume put emphasis on the negative sides of war which could lead to the political, legal, economical, social and cultural disasters internationally (Haar, 2008). The wars might disturb free commerce and create lazy labourers, because they were coerce to produce instead of depending on their own creativity and the demand of the market (Haar, 2008). In addition, the wars were expensive and required increases in the national debt of the warring parties.

Thirdly, one main Hume’s arguments was that the war might limit the freedom of the individuals in many different ways (Haar, 2008). According to the Hume’s beliefs, he emphasised that to rise of civilisation depend on the degree of freedom and the protection of property, eventually decreased the desire for war (Haar, 2008).

Reference

Haar, D. V. E. (2008). David Hume and international political theory: a reappraisal. Review of International Studies, 34(2), 225-242.