The theory of Just War can be found back over centuries to the philosophy of St. Augustine and beyond. Augustine was one of the first important figures to be challenged by the concerns raised by justified warfare. Christianity, despite significant prosecution, grew out of the Roman Empire, which was Pagan. The evolving Christianity was fundamentally pacifist, giving rise to the refusal of Christians to fight in the Roman army; violence was against Jesus’ teaching to turn the other cheek, never seek revenge, not to defend themselves and to forgive seventy times seven. Similarly, they could not justify fighting for a pagan empire, and since initially, they were expecting Jesus to return soon, warfare was not considered an important priority. However, when Emperor Constantine became Christian, he made Christianity the official religion of the empire. Up until this point, Christianity remained pacifist. This was the problem that Augustine was faced with; justifying warfare for a Christian empire. Augustine illustrated on the prevailing Roman doctrine of justum bellum and the Old Testament stories of wars fought on Israel’s behalf, as demanded by God. Augustine aimed that fighting on behalf of the Roman Empire was a Christian obligation since the empire was Christian. Augustine maintained that this was fighting on behalf of God against God’s enemies, just as Israel defended itself against God’s enemies in Old Testament times. Augustine’s thinking has backed greatly to the discussion of what makes warfare justifiable right up until the modern day. Since Augustine, two issues which are associated with Just War Theory have been distinguished:
I. Jus ad bullum
II. Jus in bello
Jus ad bellum refers to the circumstances under w...
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... Jus post bellum is vital to its ultimate function, which is to eliminate war, or at least reduce the incidence of war in the future. Each approach however has its limits. A Kantian for example might universalize nonviolence when his country is threatened with extermination, whilst a Utilitarian might justify enslaving a human being if it lead to greater net happiness – therefore it is called a swine ethic. In any ethical case however, elements of both approaches are required in order to justify a moral action. Decisions must respect rights while, at the same time, they have to be practical and cannot be seen to make things worse. One might determine that the agent-centered morality of Virtue Ethics provides a better approach to conflict, as it directs the focus away from purposes and penalties and looks at what a righteous person might do in a particular situation.
This takes us to the concept of just war. Aristotle saw just war as a means to a higher goal. You don't just fight the war to win the war there needs to be a purpose to fighting the war. He goes on to tell us how others view just war. The Romans said war was just only when conducted by the state, and only accompanied by a declaration of hostilities, meaning war had to be declared on someone. Rebellions and revolutions were not considered just wars. The Japanese did not define when war was just or proper. Early Christians rejected war; this came from the effort to be more Christ like, the Golden Rule, due unto others as you would have them do to you. Later the Christians could no longer be pacifists; they were going to have to go to war sometime after Constantine became emperor and declared Christianity as the main religion of the time.
BBC. "Christianity and the ethics of war." BBC - Religion. N.p., 3 Aug. 2009. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. .
Jus ad bellum is defined as “justice of war” and is recognized as the ethics leading up to war (Orend 31). Orend contends that an...
The idea of Just War Theory was suggested by Ambrose (Perry, “Ethics and War in Comparative Religious Perspective”), formulated by Augustine, and finally refined by Aquinas. Just War Theory was not made to justify a war (since everyone can say that even total destruction was just), but rather it brings war under control of justice, so that when all nations practice it, war would eventually cease
The Crusades were the first tactical mission by Western Christianity in order to recapture the Muslim conquered Holy Lands. Several people have been accredited with the launch of the crusades including Peter the Hermit however it is now understood that this responsibility rested primarily with Pope Urban II . The main goal of the Crusades was the results of an appeal from Alexius II, who had pleaded for Western Volunteers help with the prevention of any further invasions. The Pope’s actions are viewed as him answering the pleas of help of another in need, fulfilling his Christian right. However, from reading the documents it is apparent that Pope Urban had ulterior motives for encouraging engagement in the war against the Turks. The documents and supporting arguments now highlight that the Pope not only sought to recruit soldiers to help but also to challenge those who had harmed the Christians community and annihilate the Muslims. He put forth the idea that failure to recapture this lands would anger God and that by participating, God would redeem them of their previous sins.in a time of deep devoutness, it is clear this would have been a huge enticement for men to engage in the battle. Whether his motives were clear or not to his people, Pope Urban’s speeches claiming that “Deus vult!” (God wills it) encouraged many Christians to participate and take the cross.
In “On Free Choice of the Will”, Augustine indicates the importance of his beliefs and opinions of human nature and of God. He thinks as greatly of God as possible and centralizes his thoughts of goodness with the concept of being/form (God); he also gives a description of how God’s rightness can be interpreted clearly through the evil doings of the world. One of the biggest and most difficult problems facing people is the problem of doing evil. If God is being, unchanging, eternal and all-powerful, then how is it that people do evil? Augustine tries to solve the problem by examining the “source of evil” and “what evil is”. He explores the ways in which to live a happy life and an evil-free life by having a perfectly ordered soul—a life willed by the virtues—through free will. In the pursuit to find out how it is that evil exists, Augustine explores how people sin with inordinate desire as the driving force and free will. He lists the things we need to possess in order to sin and to live a happy life—goods of the will and temporal goods—that is, one cannot sin without temporal goods, inordinate desire, and free will. In the same way, one cannot live a happy life without goods of the will and free will.
“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.” As depicted in the quote by Ernest Hemingway war is a difficult situation in which the traditional boundaries of moral ethics are tested. History is filled with unjust wars and for centuries war was not though in terms of morality. Saint Augustine, however, offered a theory detailing when war is morally permissible. The theory offers moral justifications for war as expressed in jus ad bellum (conditions for going to war) and in jus in bello (conditions within warfare).The theory places restrictions on the causes of war as well as the actions permitted throughout. Within early Christianity, the theory was used to validate crusades as morally permissible avoiding conflict with religious views. Based on the qualifications of the Just War Theory few wars have been deemed as morally acceptable, but none have notably met all the requirements. Throughout the paper I will apply Just War Theory in terms of World War II as well as other wars that depict the ideals presented by Saint Augustine.
The majority of people experience numerous events that change the course of their life. Saint Augustine, a prominent figure in the Catholic Church, experienced this event when he converted to Christianity. The process of converting, however, was a long, confusing process. A philosophical man, Augustine made sure to think hard about something before committing to it; as a result, he had a plethora of religious questions, with the majority revolving around God. Several of these questions pertain to evil and the role God has with it.
In this essay I will consider the objections to Virtue Ethics (VE) raised by Robert Louden in his article entitled On Some Vices of Virtue Ethics which was published in 1984. It is important to note at the outset of this essay that it was not until 1991 that the v-rules came up in literature. So Louden is assuming throughout his article that the only action guidance that VE can give is “Do what the virtuous agent would do in the circumstances.” I will be addressing Louden’s objections with the benefit of knowing about the v-rules. First of all, let us discuss what VE is. VE is a normative ethical theory that emphasises the virtues or moral character, thus it focuses on the moral agent. It differs from Deontology which emphasises duties or rules, and Utilitarianism which emphasises the consequences of our actions.
The principals of human nature force people to fight for what they believe in; therefore, defending religion is not objective to that principle in the case of the crusades. In the case of the First Crrusade many people did just that, volunteered knowing that many of them would die defending their religious beliefs. In the days of the Byzantine Empire, a person’s faith or religion determined how they would live their life. It is the nature of people to fight for what they believe in; therefore, defending ones religion is not objective to that principle as in the First Crusade. A crusade is characterized as any of the military expeditions undertaken by Christian powers in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries to win the Holy Land from Muslims. The First Crusade played a vital role in Late Antiquity (Middle Ages) Europe; consequently, setting the stage for future events in European history and the preface for the Crusades to follow. The reason for the initiation of the First Crusade, how it was fought and who were involved, notable battles and generals, and how upon its finale it reshaped the Byzantine Empire.
In order for the crusades to begin, the Christians needed to gather an army to travel and fight the forces of Muslims. With all the power being held by monarchies at this time, the church needed to be cleaver in order to gain troops to put their lives on the line. To gain the support of these warriors and dedication of men, Pope Urban II (1088-1099) challenged those morals of men by telling them to grab their weapons and join the holy war to recover the land of Jerusalem. It was not the challenge that convinced men to take part in this war. The promise of “immediate remission of sins” attracted the men to stand up for their religion and beliefs while at the same time, promising them a trip to heaven when life comes to an end. With this statement, men instantly prepared for battle which in a very short period of time gave the church power which has been held by the monarchies. Men of rich and poor prepared for battle, some wearing ...
Throughout the ten-century, particularly in France, the world had become an extremely violent place. Feudal Knights were often quarreling over land possession, looting, and looking to lay people to provide them with sustenance . Likewise, the power of these knights and the extent of violence flourished due to the increasingly lacking power and authority of the kings . The Church, in an attempt to halt the violence and anarchy attempted to take control and issued such concepts as “the Peace of God” . Similarly, at this time other movements for peace by the Church were underway, and one of the commonly held ideas was the need to transform the world to more “monkish ideals”. From these ideals also sprouted the concept of the laity having “God-given functions to perform, functions that could include fighting to protect the Church”. Pope Leo IX (1049-1054) is an example of this idea; he often used militia to fight against his opponents. In the early eleventh century, there came a pivotal figure in the ideas of Church sanctioned war, Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085). Pope Gregory was involved in the Investiture Contest, and soon turned to scholars to seek out “justification for his conviction that violence could be used in defense of the Church and could be authorized by it”. The movements generated by Pope Gregory, as well as the results of the Inve...
War is a hard thing to describe. It has benefits that can only be reaped through its respective means. Means that, while necessary, are harsh and unforgiving. William James, the author of “The Moral Equivalent of War”, speaks only of the benefits to be had and not of the horrors and sacrifices found in the turbulent times of war. James bears the title of a pacifist, but he heralds war as a necessity for society to exist. In the end of his article, James presents a “war against nature” that would, in his opinion, stand in war’s stead in bringing the proper characteristics to our people. However, my stance is that of opposition to James and his views. I believe that war, while beneficial in various ways, is unnecessary and should be avoided at all costs.
Several centuries after they ended, the Crusades are remembered as wars that were fought and lost in the name of God. The efforts and means utilized and maintained to continue to wage a battle for more than one hundred years is memorable nonetheless. While we say that these wars were fought in the name of God, it is simply not that easy to define. The causes for the Crusades cannot be traced to an isolated event but rather several factors that operated together to create a climate of religious fervor to fight for the name of God. Power, piety, zeal, determination are words we can use to define some of the reasons that drove men to establish a war with another race of people, in which little was known. The Crusades are a story as much about the nature of man as they are the nature of politics and religion. The religious reasons led to social and economic ramifications that changed the political landscape forever. We see the Crusades as religious wars but a closer inspection reveals that they were fought for various reasons with
Even though many credit St. Augustine with founding the just war theory, this view is partially misleading. Augustine synthesized ideas from classical Greco-Roman and Christian philosophy to construct his theory, so credit can also be given to philosophers like Aristotle and Cicero. Since then, it has been modified by many notable thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas, Hugo Grotius, and Francisco Suarez (Orend). Technicalities aside, Augustine was a pivotal figure in developing our contemporary understanding of this tradition (Massaro 70).