The Just War Theory Essay - 1299 Words

What is the Just War theory and how did it pertain to St. Augustine? According to Augustine there is no private right to kill. According to Paul Ramsey opposes in The Just War, Christian participation in warfare â€Å"was not actually an exception to the commandment, â€Å"you shall not murder† but instead an expression of the Christian understanding of moral and political responsibility. One can kill only under the authority of God. St. Augustine argued that Christian rulers had such an obligation to make peace for the protection of his subjects even if the only way to eliminate such a threat was through force of arms. St. Augustine believed that in wars there was a right intention. Augustine also commented that wars should not be fought with†¦show more content†¦The just war theory has a long history. Parts of the Bible hint at ethical behavior in war and concepts of just cause, announcing the justice of war by divine intervention. St. Augustine provided comments on morality of war from the Christian point of view (railing against the love of violence that war can engender) as did several critics in the intellectual flourishing from the 9th to 12th centuries. Just war theorists remind warriors and politicians alike that the principles of justice following war should be universalizable and morally ordered and that winning should not provide a license for imposing unduly harsh or punitive measures or that state or commercial interests should not dictate the form of new peace. â€Å"The attraction for jus post bellum thinkers is to return to the initial justice of the war†. This means that war is considered as self-defense. The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace and safety. The just war can only be waged as a last resort requiring that all reasonable non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified. A war can be just when it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. The Just War tradition is a set of mutually agreed rules of combat may be said to commonly evolve between two culturally similar enemies. An array of values are shared between two warring peoples, we often find that they implicitly or explicitly agree upon limits to their warfare. â€Å"There are two principlesShow MoreRelatedJust War Theory815 Words   |  4 PagesJust War Theory and a Thoughtful Realist One important theory within International Relations shows a moral aspect on how to conduct war. This theory is called Just War Theory. Just War Theory is a doctrine of military ethics from a philosophical and Catholic viewpoint. This theory consists of two parts: Jus ad bellum (the right to go to war) and Jus in bello (right conduct within war). Jus a bellum, the right to go to war, explicitly describes how a nation-state should conduct itself beforeRead MoreIs The Just War Theory?1103 Words   |  5 PagesJUST WAR THEORY The just war theory is a to a great extent Christian logic that endeavours to accommodate three things as follows: taking human life is truly out of line. States have an obligation to safeguard their natives and to protect equity. And protecting honest human life and protecting good values some of the time obliges ability to utilize constrain and brutality. The theory determines conditions for judging on the off chance that it is simply to go to war, and conditions for how the warRead MoreThe Just War Theory Of War1841 Words   |  8 Pagesattitudes concerning the morality of war can change and lead the nation into unnecessary conflicts. The United States’ views towards war from two different time periods display a shift when compared to a moral standard. Comparing these attitudes to the Just War Doctrine displays this change towards morality. The Just War Theory serves as a guideline for determining a war as moral. The Doctrine consists of three major principles that contain the criteria of just war. Jus ad bellum outlines the situationsRead MoreJust War Theory2093 Words   |  8 PagesJust war theory The theory of just war has been around for several centuries. According to Ramsey and Walzer, the notion of wars being just or unjust has been debated since the fifth century B.C. E. However, it was not until Aristotle that the term â€Å"Just War† was conceived to refer to the wars initiated by Hellenes against non-Hellenes (Russell, 3). In the years after Aristotle, the just war theory was placed on the back burner. The next time it came up was in the early years of the ChristianRead MoreJust War Theory and Pacifism1734 Words   |  7 Pageswill evaluate literature on the topic, identify the different justifications for killing in time of war and decide if they legitimize our actions. After describing some compelling arguments, I will defend my own position that pacifism is the only ideal which mankind should embrace. According to traditional just war theory, a just cause must serve peace and not simply protect an unjust status quo. War must be used as a last resort and all pacifistic approaches must be undertaken. So, if your countryRead MoreThe Just War Theory Essay1225 Words   |  5 PagesThe Just War Theory The Just war theory is and interesting one simply because the phrase just war is an oxymoron. War is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations. Implicit in this definition of war is the result of death and since justice is right action towards other death is the most unjust of things. Thus war is unjust. Although there is the case where one country goes to war with another becauseRead More Just War Theory Essay3745 Words   |  15 PagesJust War Theory Price reduced due to problems with format One of the perennial realities of human existence is war. From the earliest recorded events of human history all the way through to modern times, human communities have engaged in armed conflict as a method of dispute resolution. While war has been a constant part of the human experience, there has also been a tendency within virtually all human civilisations to limit the extent of war and the methods by which warfare may be conductedRead MoreNonviolence And Just War Theory2838 Words   |  12 PagesNonviolence and Just War Theory â€Å"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.† (Matthew 5:9) Historically, there has been consistent disagreement between political philosophers regarding the possibility of a justification of war. Theorists from Grotius to Gandhi have from time immemorial argued about whether violence can ever be sanctioned as a viable recourse for preventing evil. History itself, at various times, seems to offer lessons regarding the complexity of the issue—demonstratingRead MoreJust War Theory Essay2502 Words   |  11 PagesReligion (Just War) Christianity preaches peace and loving your neighbor but for the history of christianity, there has been violence and war in its name. For Many years people have been killing other human beings in the name of christ or justifying their killings by saying that the war is in the name of god. The belief that violence and war can be justified is called the â€Å"Just War Theory.† Just war is a war that is justified because it is necessary for peace to happen. Just war theory has itsRead MoreJust War Theory, Using The Gulf War1410 Words   |  6 Pageswill present the concept of just war theory, using the Gulf War as a case study in order to understand the concreteness of the doctrine. The choice of this case is due to the various issues regarding the application of just war theory to modern conflict, which will be discussed in the concluding part of the paper. Just war tradition has its origins in the fourth century AD. The first propagandist of these ideas was St. Augustine (AD 354-430), who elaborated a just war doctrine, which was later adapted