Ironically enough, however, his own scientific work was not unquestionably beneficial to humanity. Dynamite made more powerful weapons possible. As the morally aware man he was, Nobel was troubled by this, and in his efforts to justify his activity, he also toyed with the doctrine of deterrence. More powerful weapons would keep man from waging war. When he wrote his will, however, exactly one hundred years ago, the peace he envisaged was of a completely different kind.
Nothing is said about peace based on fear, deterrence, or a balance of power.
The conditions for peace are now seen as disarmament and fraternity, in other words the elimination of fear and the promotion of a peaceful mentality rooted in the human spirit. It is work for this kind of peace that Nobel wanted the Norwegian Nobel Committee to honour. The will is based on a concept of peace with a moral content. That does not mean discounting the need to take practical politics into account, but is a reminder of their limitations, and of the equally self-evident place of moral considerations in international politics, as in any of this world's other complicated sets of circumstances. To set any sector of human activity apart from the moral sphere is to deny our humanity.