From Vikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifism
Definition
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Pacifism covers a spectrum of views, including the belief that international disputes can and should be pea
cefully resolved, calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war, opposition to any organization of society through governmental force (anarchist or libertarian pacifism), rejection of the use of physical violence to obtain political, economic or social goals, the obliteration of force except in cases where it is absolutely necessary to advance the cause of peace, and opposition to violence under any circumstance, even defence of self and others. Historians of pacifism Peter Brock and Thomas Paul Socknat define pacifism "in the sense generally accepted in English-speaking areas" as "an unconditional rejection of all forms of warfare". [1] Philosopher Jenny Teichman defines the main form of pacifism as "anti-warism", the rejection of all forms of warfare (though not necessarily other forms of violence). [2] Teichman's beliefs have been summarised by Brian Orend as "..A pacifist rejects war and believes there are no moral grounds which can justify resorting to war. War, for a pacifist is always wrong." [3]
Moral considerations
Pacifism may be based on moral principles (a deontological view) or pragmatism (a consequentialist view). Principled pacifism holds that at some point along the spectrum from war to interpersonal physical violence, such violence becomes morally wrong. Pragmatic pacifism holds that the costs of war and inter-personal violence are so substantial that better ways of resolving disputes must be found. Pacifists in general reject theories of Just War. Nonviolence
Some pacifists follow principles of nonviolence, believing that nonviolent action is morally superior and/or pragmatically most effective. Some pacifists, however, support physical violence for emergency defense of self or others. Others support destruction of property in such emergencies or for conducting symbolic acts of resistance like pouring red paint to represent blood on the outside of military recruiting offices or entering air force bases and hammering on military aircraft. However, part of the pacifist belief system is taking responsibility for one's actions by submitting to arrest and using a trial to publicize opposition to war and other forms of violence. Non-aggression
In contrast to the nonviolence principle stands the non-aggression principle, which rejects the initiation of violence, but permits the use of violence for self-defense or delegated defense. Although people supporting the non-aggression principle often call themselves pacifists, they are more properly described as voluntaryists. They claim that the moral prohibition of the use of violence follows from argumentation ethics, which only applies when people are using argumentation to solve disputes. So it does not apply when someone is subject to initiated violence, and hence self-defense is not morally rejected. Another possible approach is a semantic one: the claim that defense and aggression are fundamentally different, a point that is obscured when using terms like "defensive violence" and "initiated violence"; that there is no moral prohibition on defense and no need to justify it or make an exception for it. Dove
Dove or dovish are informal terms used, especially in politics, for people who prefer to avoid war or prefer war as a last resort. The terms refer to the story of Noah's Ark in which the dove came to symbolize the hope of salvation and peace.[citation needed] Similarly, in common parlance, the opposite of a dove is a hawk or war hawk.
