The Ethics of War in Countries of Orthodox Culture. Collective Monograph

The monograph presents the results of research conducted by a team of authors from the Ural Federal University, the University of Belgrade, the Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, and the Belarusian State University. The main idea of the book and the perspective on the issue are defined by the well-known Serbian philosopher, a student of J. Derrida, and author of numerous publications dedicated to the analysis of conflict, violence, and war issues - Petar Bojanic. The researchers focused on the personal moral experience of war: the interpretation of moral dilemmas and the specifics of making moral choices. To achieve this, letters, autobiographies, archival documents, orders, regulations, as well as literary works written by participants of various military events, including recent ones, were analyzed. The strategies of moral choice were examined not only for soldiers and commanders but also for clergy, nurses, and refugees. The moral experience and ethical reflection are contextualized within the moral horizon of Orthodox culture, which, according to the authors' intention, should open up a new perspective for understanding the history and current state of the ethics of war. In this regard, the publication includes an examination of the most significant concepts within the stated theme - violence, victory, hero, Christian warriorhood, and others. The book is aimed at specialists in the fields of philosophical anthropology, cultural philosophy, ethics, and religious studies.