Clausewitz's Political and Ethical World View
| Published date | 01 March 1989 |
| Date | 01 March 1989 |
| Author | Azar Gat |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9248.1989.tb00267.x |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Political
Studies
(I
989),
XXXVII,
97-1
06
Clausewitz’s Political
and
Ethical
World
View
AZAR
GAT
Tel Aviv University
This article challenges the accepted view that Clausewitz did not deal with the ethical
status of war. It attempts to show that his views on this matter are well documented in
his works; that they were part and parcel of a comprehensive outlook regarding the
nature of both international relations and the state; and that this outlook reflected the
emerging world view in the Germany of national awakening.
The accepted view that Clausewitz refrained from dealing with the ethical aspects
of war and that he confined himself to the study of war ‘as it is’,l requires careful
historical scrutiny, although based on an apparently unequivocal statement by
Clausewitz himself. After describing the advantages
of
guerilla warfare, he wrote:
the question only remains whether mankind at large will gain
by
this further
expansion
of
the element of war;
a
question
to
which the answer should be the
same as
to
the question of war itself. We shall leave
both
to
the
philosopher^.^
This statement also corresponds with Clausewitz’s general tendency to avoid
too
direct a reference to philosophical questions about which he did not feel
professionally qualified and which might expose his work to criticism outside the
military sphere.
However, to deduce from this that Clausewitz had no views on ethics in the
framework of his general world view, or that his outlook on war was divorced
from this world view seems inconceivable, particularly as we are dealing with a
man for whom a comprehensive understanding of reality was a genuine need and
the object of continuous efforts, who had an acute historical view and whose life
was marked by a deep political commitment expressed in highly charged
statements. Paret emphasizes that Clausewitz’s historicist approach rendered his
historical outlook almost totally free from value judgements which assume
universal, supra-historical standards of measurements. This is reinforced,
according to Paret, by Clausewitz’s avoidance of ideological positions because
his concern was with ‘the diplomatic and military efficiency
of
any political
community’, expressed in ‘results, which are judged in terms of energy and
See for example: Werner Hahlweg,
Carl
von
Clausewitz
(Gottingen, Muster-Schmidt, 1957), p.
62; cited with approval by Peter Paret,
Clausewitz
ond
the
State
(Oxford, Oxford University Press,
1976) p. 352, also see pp. 348-9; and P. Paret, ‘Clausewitz’, in P. Paret (ed.),
Makers
of
Modern
Strafegy
(Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1986), pp. 1867,205. There is hardly any awareness
of the subject in
R.
Aron,
Penser
lo
Guerre: Clausewirz
(Paris, Gallimard, 1976).
*
Carl von Clausewitz,
On
War
(Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1976),
VI,
26, p. 479.
0032-3217/89/0l/0097-10/$03.00
0
1989
Political
Studies
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