The necessity of Norm: Norm on necessity

Norm shows his characteristic perspicacity when, in connection with an article by George Monbiot, he notes that an action is ajudged "necessary" insofar as a valued end cannot be attained without undertaking the action.

Thus to say that, e.g., a war is unnecessary means that it in fact is not a precondition to attaining the goal to which it is related as a means. Alternatively, it might mean that the end itself is not really a desideratum - or at least one not proportionate to the grave and dangerous character of war; here the means-end relationship is not disputed, but the importance or legitimacy of the end, in setting the means in motion, is denied.

A more prosaic meaning of "necessary" is something like "what one 'has to' do." This is opposed, so it's thought, to what one simply "chooses" to do.

But since every deliberate undertaking entails a kind of choice, to fight any war is a "choice" - one which conceivably could have been refused. A state could simply capitulate to an invader, say, or not respond to an attack, whether at home or abroad.

The plausibility of the prosaic notion of a necessary war is greatest when the immediate existence of the state hangs in the balance - the desirability of preserving the social order is assumed to be granted beyond any (reasonable) doubt, so that war is the only option. The note of desperation seems to be decisive - whereas in putatively non-necessary cases, the officers of state have a kind of breathing room to contemplate a greater range of possibilities. (It's interesting to note that even the necessity of the apparently desperate case becomes problematic when the state to be preserved is a bane to its subjects and its neighbors.) However, though it approaches the question of necessity from a different angle, this way of looking at the matter can ultimately be absorbed into the analysis of means and ends given above - here the meaning of "necessary" is that the end is overwhelmingly motivating and there's no doubt at all about the means thereto.

Even though it can feel a bit artificial to parse meanings in this fashion, conversations about the invasion of Iraq would be much more fruitful if the sense of such key terms could be kept clear. It's beneficial to read someone like Norm, because he's very good at illuminating the fundamental categories that come into play, helping to steer one on a steadier course.