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The Unbearable Humanum: Reflecting Back, Working Forwards

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Michael Kirwan SJ
Michael Kirwan SJ*
Affiliation:
Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London, W8 5HN
*
m.kirwan@heythrop.ac.uk
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Abstract

This article, “reflects back and works forwards”, by thinking together the three “sorrowful mysteries” of the last one hundred years; three marked and irrevocable steps of escalation and complexity in the history of international conflict. Along with so many others in this centenary year, we commemorate: its causes, and the lessons to be learned. What are the continuities between the Great War, 1914–18, and the second “sorrowful mystery”, the advent of nuclear weapons? This brings us to the specific challenges that face us in the present: globalized violence in the name of religion, the reactive “war on terror” and the development of “smart” technology, remind us that our context too is unprecedented and uniquely dangerous. Explanatory avenues opened up include discussion of the moral and political implications of unmanned weapons, or drones. Here is an example of the crisis of sacrifice associated with René Girard, while Girard's own recasting of Clausewitz's notion of the “escalation to extremes”, and the humanism in Edward Schillebeeckx are also examined.

Keywords

Catholic Social ThoughtJust WarRené GirardSacrificeDrone WarfareEdward Schillebeeckx
Type
Original Article
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 96 , Issue 1062 , March 2015 , pp. 239 - 251
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 The Dominican Council

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References

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2 Hannah Arendt, ibid.

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8 Girard, 2010: p.237.