When Is War Justified?
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When Is War Justified?
Matt Thu Oct 18, 2007 9:59 pm
I posted this in a new topic because I believe the discussion of war, that is, conflicts between nations, is different from conflict between individuals--although that may certainly be up for discussion. What follows is the most concise rendition of the just war theory (developed by guys like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas) that I could find:
Last Resort: A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.
Competent Authority: A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate.
Just Cause: A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause (although the justice of the cause is not sufficient--see point #4). Further, a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions: the only permissible objective of a just war is to redress the injury.
Probability of Success: A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.
Goal of Peace: The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.
Comparative justice: In essence: Which side is sufficiently "right" in a dispute, and are the values at stake critical enough to override the presumption against war? Do the rights and values involved justify killing?
Proportionality: The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered. The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.
I submit this theory to you, gentlemen, with the following questions:
1. Does it hold any water? In other words, can it be proved (1 Thess. 5:21)?
2. I know this goes against #2, but what parts of it could apply to actions taken by individuals?
3. What does it say about actions we have taken as a nation in recent years?
Regarding the last point, here's an interesting statistic from Mary Kaldor's book New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era (2002):
“[There has been a] dramatic increase in the ratio of civilian to military casualties. At the beginning of the twentieth century, 85-90 percent of victims in war were military. In World War II, approximately half of all war deaths were civilian. By the late 1990s, the proportions of a hundred years ago have been almost exactly reversed, so that nowadays approximately 80 percent of all casualties in wars are civilian.”
Well, I just got The Shaping of Things to Come and Velvet Elvis from Amazon, so I am compelled to go begin reading them.
www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pol116/justwar.htm. (I know, it's a women's college, but the instructors are probably all men)
Last Resort: A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.
Competent Authority: A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate.
Just Cause: A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause (although the justice of the cause is not sufficient--see point #4). Further, a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions: the only permissible objective of a just war is to redress the injury.
Probability of Success: A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.
Goal of Peace: The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.
Comparative justice: In essence: Which side is sufficiently "right" in a dispute, and are the values at stake critical enough to override the presumption against war? Do the rights and values involved justify killing?
Proportionality: The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered. The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.
I submit this theory to you, gentlemen, with the following questions:
1. Does it hold any water? In other words, can it be proved (1 Thess. 5:21)?
2. I know this goes against #2, but what parts of it could apply to actions taken by individuals?
3. What does it say about actions we have taken as a nation in recent years?
Regarding the last point, here's an interesting statistic from Mary Kaldor's book New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era (2002):
“[There has been a] dramatic increase in the ratio of civilian to military casualties. At the beginning of the twentieth century, 85-90 percent of victims in war were military. In World War II, approximately half of all war deaths were civilian. By the late 1990s, the proportions of a hundred years ago have been almost exactly reversed, so that nowadays approximately 80 percent of all casualties in wars are civilian.”
Well, I just got The Shaping of Things to Come and Velvet Elvis from Amazon, so I am compelled to go begin reading them.
www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pol116/justwar.htm. (I know, it's a women's college, but the instructors are probably all men)
Matt- Posts : 7
Join date : 2007-09-26
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