Home > Just war
"Just war" is a term to characterise a war as being permissible according to a set of moral or legal rules. The rules applied may be ethical, religious, or formal (such as international law). The rules classically cover the justification for the war ( Jus Ad Bellum) and the conduct of the participants in the war ( Jus In Bello).Just war theory has ancient roots. Cicero discussed this idea and its applications. Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas later codified a set of rules for a just war, which today still encompass the points commonly debated, with some modifications.
In modern language, these rules hold that to be just, a war must meet the following criteria before the use of force:(Jus Ad Bellum)
- War can only be waged for a just cause, such as self-defense against an armed attack.
- War can only be waged under legitimate authority. The sovereign power of the state is usually considered to be legitimate authority. This means that citizens at their own will cannot attack another country without the permission of the sovereign.
- War can only be waged with the right intention. Correcting a suffered wrong is considered a right intention, while material gain is not. Thus a war that would normally be just for all other reasons would be made unjust by a bad intention.
- War can only be waged with a reasonable chance of success. It is considered unjust to meaninglessly waste human life and economic resources if defeat is unavoidable.
- War can only be waged as a last resort. War is not just until all realistic options which were likely to right the wrong have been pursued.
Once war has begun, just war theory also directs how combatants are to act:(Jus In Bello)
- The acts of war should be directed towards the inflictors of the wrong, and not towards civilians caught in circumstances they did not create. Some theologians believe that this rule forbids weapons of mass destruction of any kind, for any reason (such as the use of an atomic bomb).
- Torture, of combatants or of non-combatants, is forbidden.
- Prisoners of war must be treated respectfully.
- Some, such as former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, argue that the force used must be proportional to the wrong endured, and to the possible good that may come. Others argue that force should be total and immediate, as to make the conflict as short as possible (See Powell doctrineGeneral Colin Powell made famous the so-called Powell Doctrine as part of the run up to the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Powell believes that forces should only be deployed when national interest, commitment, and support have been established. However, once those).
- Many throughout history have considered conscriptionConscription or mandatory military service is a general term for government policies that require citizens to serve in their armed forces. It is known by various names, for example, in the United States it is known colloquially as the Draft . However, the an unjust means, e.g.
- "It is debasing human dignity to force men to give up their life, or to inflict death against their will, or without conviction as to the justice of their action." -- Albert EinsteinAlbert Einstein ( March 14 1879 April 18 1955) was a theoretical physicist who is widely regarded as the greatest scientist of the 20th century. He proposed the theory of relativity and also made major contributions to the development of quantum mechanics, Mahatma GandhiMohandas Karamchand Gandhi ( October 2, 1869— January 30, 1948; Devanagari: ) known popularly as Mahatma Gandhi (first called mahatma Sanskrit for great soul, by Shri Aurobindo Ghosh), was one of the founding fathers of the modern Indian state and an infl in the Manifesto Against Conscription and the Military System [1]
1 Just War Theorists
- Cicero ( 106 BCCenturies: 3rd century BC 2nd century BC 1st century BC Decades: 150s BC 140s BC 130s BC 120s BC 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC Years: 111 BC 110 BC 109 BC 108 BC 107 BC 106 BC 105 BC 104 BC 103 BC 102 BC 101 BC Events Births January 3– 43 BCCenturies: 2nd century BC 1st century BC 1st century Decades: 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC 0s Years: 48 BC 47 BC 46 BC 45 BC 44 BC 43 BC 42 BC 41 BC 40 BC 39 BC 38 BC Events April 14 Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark A)
- Augustine of Hippo ( 354Events Gallus deposed, executed at Antioch. Libanius becomes a teacher of rhetoric in Antioch; his students include John Chrysostom and Theodore of Mopsuestia. Births November 13 Augustine of Hippo, theologian Paulinus of Nola, bishop Deaths 354.- 430)
- St. Thomas Aquinas ( 1225- 1274)
- Francisco de Vitoria ( 1492- 1546)
- Francisco Suarez ( 1548- 1617)
- Hugo Grotius ( 1583- 1645)
- Baron von Pufendorf ( 1632– 1694)
- Emerich de Vattel ( 1714- 1767)
- Paul Ramsey ( 1913- 1988)
- Michael Walzer ( 1935- )
