Andrei Pleșu, Dilema.ro: when is a war legitimate

I am sometimes afraid that by publishing written notes over the years through various notebooks, I am committing an aggression against the readers (who are not necessarily interested in the history of my readings and musings), but – even more seriously – I sin through a flirtation with self-promotion... I enjoy what I read years ago, I savor egotistical notes of juvenile (or post-juvenile...) journals and do not responsibly engage with the social-political current. Forgive me! But as G. Călinescu said: it is good to be, from time to time, "alone and out of date". I therefore solidarize with the hygienic solitude and out-of-dateness of my peers and offer them some samples of my experience...

The 1970s

Qualities and defects of the scientist, according to the criteria of Ion Petrovici and Ion F. Buricescu.

Qualities:

1. "Scientific spirit": to think of the world as composed of laws and to use reason to discover and understand them.

2. To have truth as the goal of research. Not personal ideas, not "originality".

3. To be gifted. (Genius, or at least talent, intelligence, intuition.)

4. Perseverance, patience.

5. Love and work ethic.

6. Imagination.

7. Experience (including apprenticeship).

8. Means of documentation at hand.

9. Independent spirit (assuming the relativity of truth).

10. Vocational calling, passion.

11. Dedication, selflessness, willingness to sacrifice.

12. Consistency, tenacity, strength of character.

13. Disinterested attitude.

14. The courage of one's own opinion.

Defects:

1. Lack of personal scientific initiative (against "bookish scholars": they know everything others have said, but have nothing new to say).

2. Superficiality ("slippery scholars": they substitute work with intellectual abilities...).

3. Receptiveness to prejudices.

4. Dogmatism, exaggerated "systematic" spirit ("typical scholars": they sacrifice reality for "interesting" theories).

5. Self-centeredness.

6. Material interest.

7. Inconsistency ("changing scholars": they do not persevere in their own hypothesis, they switch too easily from one idea to another).

8. Impatience. ("precipitate scholars": they want quick results without the necessary effort).

9. Lack of enthusiasm, pessimism, distrust.

The 1980s (+ 2016...)

Traditional wisdom about war (both in Islam and in Christianity): "The purpose of war is peace" (= order, balance, harmony). In the "divine place" (the divine "establishment"), the two complementary viewpoints unite indivisibly: unity in multiplicity and multiplicity in unity. The opposites are suspended. In the external, historical plan, a legitimate war is one that restores order in the space where it is despised. A legitimate war has a balancing, justifying function. Peace and Justice as signs of the war won. Cf. also Psalm 84, 11: "...righteousness and peace have kissed each other". In what we live today, the two despise each other.

https://www.dilema.ro/situatiunea/note-stari-zile_3741