William James - The Moral Equivalent of War

William James was a philosopher and psychologist who lived from 1842 to 1910. He was the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. In his time, he was widely known to be the “Father of American Psychology”.

     William James’ The Moral Equivalent of War is a rumination about how James thinks that society should reform itself into one where everybody is enlisted into an army, but not one that fights other armies. He suggests a mandatory army that fights against what he calls nature – more specifically, the concept of everything that mankind struggles against. James wrote this essay to express his opinion and philosophy for what he believed would be close to an ideal society in which nobody fought each other, but banded together to fight common enemies in the forms of any challenge that any man faced. He uses the idea of an army to fight an enemy who does not feel pain.

This essay was originally a speech he gave at Stanford, so it is most likely intended for students and intellectuals, people who could appreciate the depth of his philosophical ruminations and possibly ask questions that would either allow him to go further into the reasoning of his opinion, or perhaps even make him revise it.James makes great use of theoretical discussion, putting forth ideas for what may happen as opposed to actual tests which would be impossible to do. The very basis of most philosophical discussion is theoretical discourse, so theory is very effective at getting his ideas across. I think that James does a good job expressing his ideas and theories. He’s very clear and straightforward in his explanations, particularly about how his proposed army would not really be an army at all, and how “nature” is not just natural events, but any challenge that mankind faces.

     This essay came from someone who lived through the Civil War and remembers its horrors. James published this in a time when he was older than most people, and he saw World War I coming, and knew it would be waged by people who hadn’t seen war before. The essay comes off a bit like an elder giving an apprentice advice.

Just like this album cover, William James suggests a Fragile Army - One that doesn't fight with weapons, but just by working together to a common cause.

Cover credited to the Polyphonic Spree.