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Specifics in a Positive Approach to Peace
Author(s) -
White Ralph K.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1988.tb02069.x
Subject(s) - skepticism , nuclear weapon , criticism , consciousness , empathy , the imaginary , psychology , epistemology , social psychology , law , political science , environmental ethics , law and economics , sociology , political economy , philosophy , psychoanalysis
An approach to peace is called “positive” here if, in addition to appearing as a realistic means toward peace, it is inherently attractive and morally unobjectionable. Positive approaches include drastic reduction of nuclear weapons (bilateral if possible, but unilateral if necessary), total elimination of first‐strike nuclear weapons, a wholehearted no‐first‐use policy in actions as well as in words, humanization of our own diabolical image of the U.S.S.R., cultivation of realistic empathy and global consciousness, drastic reduction of fear appeals by the peace movement, and cultivation of realistic hope. However, some “negative” actions are also well worth considering as paths to peace: retention of approximately 5% of our present nuclear strength, retention of “adequate” conventional strength, realistic criticism of the U.S.S.R., occasional use of fear appeals, and guarding against unrealistic hope. As a model of positive reasoning and a source of useful references, an imaginary dialogue is presented in which a peace activist answers, in a factual and two‐sided way, a number of highly skeptical hawkish questions. Learning to answer such questions effectively may add to both immediate effectiveness and long‐term hope within the peace movement.