Reflection Essay-Causes of War

Levels of Analysis (A Merging of Views

It is in my belief that in for one to have a full understanding of something , may it be an idea or phenomenon he /she must look at it using an approach that invites different angles of perception . An analysis of the cause of war is in my best of judgment , most effective if we try to view it from the most basic of its component , the individual , and the social reality in which s /he is embedded

This would reflect upon the different levels of

analysis that have been discussed in general . It shall refer to the various texts we have covered but also make use of other references that cuts through , if not further elaborate on the concepts introduced by the earlier mentioned . I will begin my contemplation on the individual level wherein the dominating views are between the argument of inherent human aggression and its polar opposite , the argument of war as merely man 's invention . This would be followed by the analysis of Samuel Huntington on a societal plane of inquiry in his conjecture that future wars /conflicts would be caused by civilizations . Perhaps , at the end of the discussion , I shall be able to set forth my own view regarding the cause of war in contemporary times by proposing the merging of both levels and highlighting the points which I think are more justified

Socio-political philosophers like Thomas Hobbes have suggested that aggression is part of human nature , as such it is the case that conflicts will inevitably arise out of this innate feature . Wars then are basically argued in this sense to be an unavoidable expression of man 's inherent tendency to be aggressive . As rational agents , I think we must see this in the light that an aggressive behavior becomes imperative in the instance of placing man within the context of also needing to be a possessor of power either as a source of defense or as a tool of dominance that could guarantee survival

However , I am not inclined to believe this view as one that holistically addresses the question our class wishes to answer . It is indeed a causal factor , but only one of so many fragments that makes war a possibility if not a potentiality actualized by humanity

Margaret Mead in fact , takes a stand far more extreme than my own blurred view as of now , in such a way that she ultimately claims that war is a human invention and is in no way a biological necessity Warfare is , as it seems to appear in her work , an institution that is merely created by certain societies similar to that of marriage and other patterns of we create . She attempts to support this claim by pointing out the existence of certain communities /societies wherein war is not conceived to be the immediate consequence of a tendency towards conflict brought about by strong qualities of aggression

It is the case for...