Transcript File

War and Peace
Aims for this lesson:
 Review
Just War principles
 Consider Pacifism and Realism
NB Some exercises here from Robert Bowie
Ethical Studies (2nd edition, Nelson
Thornes, 2004) can be used for
discussion.
Just War – the origins and key
players
4th C BCE – war for self defence
is just (Early Christians were pacifist
before Constantine converts in 312 AD)
 Early Christian thinkers – Augustine and
Ambrose war is justified to defend threats
against the faith. Use OT as example.
 And this leads to…
 Aristotle
St Thomas Aquinas 13th C
Conditions for when it’s right to fight – called
‘jus ad bellum’:
 Right authority
 Just Cause (eg self-defence, defence of
others)
 Just Intention (eg seeking peace)
Check what these mean – pages 279-280
in Bowie (2nd edition 2004)
 “A
just war is wont to be described as one
that avenges wrongs, when a nation or
state has to be punished for wrongs
inflicted by its subjects”.
 Aquinas
Summa Theologica II-II Q40
Further ‘jus ad bellum’ conditions:
16th + 17th C – Francisco Suarez and
Franciso de Vittoria
 Last resort – Falklands War?
 Reasonable chance of success
 Proportionality (eg disproportional to go to
war over fishing rights)
How war should be fought – ‘jus in
bello’
– read the explanations –
relate it to the recent Gulf War
 Discrimination over targets – why is this
increasingly relevant?
 Proportionality
Evaluating Just War



accepts that war is sometimes necessary but…
maintains moral principles
retains respect for human rights
Criticisms from realists:
 War is more complicated than this – no single ‘just
cause’ eg 2009 Gaza Conflict
 Can’t always predict outcomes – Vietnam, length of Gulf
War etc
 Unrealistic to expect fighters to be moral thinkers eg
Gaza fighting in civilian areas against guerillas.
 Who is the innocent civilian?
Jus post bellum
(don’t humiliate eg 1918)
 Discrimination (punish leaders, not
civilians)
 Financial aid (eg US Marshall Plan)
 Rehabilitation (eg new constitution,
guarantees of rights, police reform etc)
 Proportionality
Pacifism
Inspired by:


Buddhist principles
The example of Jesus – rejecting option of force even is
self defence eg “Love your enemies”.
Recent pacifists who have both argued for non violent
resistance’:

Gandhi – “I object to violence because when it appears
to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is
permanent.”

Desmond Tutu
Criticisms of Pacifism
 Takes
right to decide away from victim.
 Some people appear to be evil – e.g. the
holocaust – and will not be affected by
Non Violent Resistance.
 The examples of pacifists being
conquered by ruthless powers (see page
284)
Christian Realism




Reinhold Niebuhr ‘Moral Man and Immoral
Society’ (1932)
Human nature is evil – therefore force is
necessary to maintain society
States have different moral rules to individuals
Pacifism is a heresy – Love will not guarantee
victory!!
God’s will requires us to be pro-active in the
world
Conclusion:
 Pacifism
seems to deny the individual self
defence and history shows it is not always
successful and what’s more, can end in
atrocities.
 Realism
permits states too much freedom
– surely there should be limitations?