There is a huge volume of work on war and its causes, most of which treats its political and economic roots. In Peace Education: How We Come to Love and Hate War, Nel Noddings explores the psychological factors that support war: nationalism, hatred, delight in spectacles, masculinity, religious extremism and the search for existential meaning. She argues that while schools can do little to reduce the economic and political causes, they can do much to moderate the psychological factors that promote violence by helping students understand the forces that manipulate them.

“Noddings helps us understand our fascination with war and why education for peace has had so much difficulty gaining a toehold in American classrooms. This book offers not only a cogent critique of the place of war and peace in education but also numerous suggestions for teaching (and living) approaches based in caring. Once again, Noddings demonstrates why philosophy matters in helping us think clearly about what we should be teaching in schools.”
– Margaret Crocco, University of Iowa

“Noddings brings the ethics of care into the field of peace studies with this insightful book. She wants us to care for the victims of war and the warriors who fight. She critiques the overly moralistic language of pacifism and just war tradition. She reminds us of the important contributions to peace education of women such as Virginia Woolf and Jane Addams. And she encourages us to imagine new ways to educate children in order to build a more peaceful future.”
– Andrew Fiala, California State University, Fresno

“This is essential reading for those who are uncertain about why we fight in wars, and even more, for those who are certain that they know. At a time when armed conflict is not exceptional but the norm, every educator, parent, politician, and member of our armed forces should read this book. By probing the psychological underpinnings of why we fight, Noddings moves us beyond the well-rehearsed clichés about teaching peace and into the consequential realms of emotion, alienation, and the quest for meaning.”
– Joel Westheimer, University of Ottawa

"Noddings (emer., Stanford Univ.) provides a compelling overview of "how we come to love and hate war.".... All disciplines, not only history, need to incorporate expanded considerations of peace and war.... Recommended..."
–R. Roth, emerita, Rockhurst University, CHOICE

"...The book as a whole proposes a variety of ideas.... offers information that will educate the reader. These involve the centrality of war in history, the destructiveness of war, masculinity, patriotism, hatred, religion, pacifism, women, and existential meaning..."
–Dr. Rachel MacNair, Institute for Integrated Social Analysis (Consistent Life), PsycCRITIQUES