Toward an Ontology of Pacifism: Three Ontological Intuitions of the Pacifist Tradition

Abstract The paper explores the ontology of pacifism by considering authors and texts in the pacifist tradition. It analyzes three generally shared commitments of the authors in this tradition: (1) that peace is a positive reality, (2) that interdependence and interrelationship are fundamental; and (3) that the entities of social and political life are socially constructed. These ideas are generally shared by authors in this tradition, although the tradition is itself understood as a complex conversation that includes diverse points of view. The paper argues that by understanding these ontological commitments we can better understand the normative claims of pacifism.