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Sorites goes to war – For an ontology of war

Metropolitan Museum of Art / CC0

Pili G., (2020), “The wild bunch is enrolled to the army – Sorites paradox and the problems for the ontology of war”, Areté – International Journal of Philosophy, Human & Social Sciences, VOL. 5, 231-249.

It is with my great pleasure to announce the publication of my last peer-review paper! You can find it here! Don’t wait to download and quote it!


Table of contents: 1. Introduction; 2. The wild bunch is enrolled into the army; 3. Toward an
ontology of war thinking through the Sorites paradox; 4. Conclusions


Abstract1 gunshot is not a war, 2 gunshots are not a war… are 1 million gunshots a war? There is no such thing so investigated as war and, at the same time, still so outcasted theoretically. Ambiguity, vagueness and logical conundrums lay unsolved in the very hardcore of the several theories that considered war from a general perspective and, then, philosophically committed explicitly or implicitly. It is not the experience and observational data we lack but the general
ability to generalize and expand our knowledge beyond what we can directly observe empirically and historically. Sorites arguments are everywhere in war theories: vagueness and ambiguities of many shapes inform the literature. Only a philosophical account of war can solve some of those issues: an ontology of war is needed to bring light into the heart of darkness. 


Keywords: War, Ontology of War, Sorites Argument, Vagueness, Metaphysics.


Giangiuseppe Pili

Giangiuseppe Pili è Ph.D. in filosofia e scienze della mente (2017). E' il fondatore di Scuola Filosofica in cui è editore, redatore e autore. Dalla data di fondazione del portale nel 2009, per SF ha scritto oltre 800 post. Egli è autore di numerosi saggi e articoli in riviste internazionali su tematiche legate all'intelligence, sicurezza e guerra. In lingua italiana ha pubblicato numerosi libri. Scacchista per passione. ---- ENGLISH PRESENTATION ------------------------------------------------- Giangiuseppe Pili - PhD philosophy and sciences of the mind (2017). He is an expert in intelligence and international security, war and philosophy. He is the founder of Scuola Filosofica (Philosophical School). He is a prolific author nationally and internationally. He is a passionate chess player and (back in the days!) amateurish movie maker.

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