A Reason For Violence: War in Hegel's Ethical System

Several years after the Napoleonic Wars ended, German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel declared that there is an "ethical moment in war." The ethos for this declaration comes from Hegel's belief that the state embodies the highest expression of freedom. In times of war, the citizen must therefore set aside its particular life to defend the state lest they lose their freedom. While romantic in nature, the implications of the ethical moment leads us to question whether the logic of Hegel's system makes this claim philosophically adequate. Furthermore, it requires us to understand how its legacy unfolded not only in post-Hegelian literature but also in modern-day conceptualizations of warfare. This thesis reconstructs ethical life in the Hegelian context, understanding how a buildup of freedom-seeking entities and necessary instances of violence culminates in the ethical moment. It then challenges Hegel's statement by revising some of his contextual claims, as well as interpretations from secondary scholars. My thesis finds that the ethical moment is a contingent necessity for Hegel’s system of individuals as well as a prescription for modern international affairs.