The Paradox of War

Abstract

The panorama of tragic events has disclosed all kinds of conflicts. From Troy to Athens, from Jerusalem to Casterbridge and Geneva, general warfare has served as the background to personal and private battles. Weapons have changed in the course of time, as have the objects of hostile clashes. The pursuit of honour has lessened as the lust for money has increased. Yet the balance of love and hatred remain a constant reminder of the uncertainty of human striving. Once love and hatred had been interpreted ‘scientifically’ as glandular excretions in the contest of survival, and the theories of Darwin, Huxley, and Spencer had been absorbed by popular Western thought, a deterministic pessimism pushed the tragic consciousness out of existence. When flawed characters owe their misery to genetic DNA information, they can no longer be seen as noble or guilty. There can be no real heroes nor villains. The realistic novels of Stendhal and Zola reacted to the new climate: they described things as they are, on earth, among human beings.