Pensando la guerra en Oriente y Occidente: De luces y sombras, del sueño a la vigilia

Abstract

We think the concept of just war is a purely Western concept, so in this communication we try to trace their origin. That’s the reason we compare the western way of thinking about war with the Oriental way, and more specifically with the Japanese cultural context (but the kind of Japanese culture that tends to identify itself with Chinese culture). We use three main sources: military text (Hagakure, the Way of the Samurai), an aesthetic text (In Praise of Shadows) and a religious treatise (from Zen Buddhism). Throughout our work appear irreconcilable differences between the Western and Eastern scheme of thinking the war; incompatibilities around a set of concepts and metaphors: event and transcendence, dream and vigil, light and shadow, nature and State. Understanding these concepts explained in conclusion, why we can’t find such a concept like just war outside of the West.