AHSS 1020 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Just War Theory, Wage War, Humanitarian Intervention
18 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Human Security & World Disorder Week 7 February 28th 2017
Unit 5 Just War Theory
War
War is an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict often carried out by States, and a
form of political violence or intervention
- Whether armed conflict between States, civil war within a State, or even terrorism as the
asymmetrical attempt to influence a State
- A State is an independent, organized self-governing political community living under a
unified political system (i.e. a government and governing institutions such as a bureaucracy,
a justice system, military, civil service)
A basic purpose of the State is to provide law, order, and security
A State maintains a monopoly of the legitimate use of force within a certain
territory
War is the greatest scale on which human beings pursue their security
War is in many ways (even deeply misguided ones) a massive operation dedicated to the
attempt to try to contain a security threat caused by another country or organization, one which
has the…
War in 2 Views
War is unleashing hell on earth
- A terrible process that brings about death, destruction, and even inhumanity
- For those who caught in its grips, war is the most terrible and terrifying phenomenon that
human beings are capable of experiencing
War is politics by other means, as Clausewitz argues.
- All warfare is precisely, and ultimately, political (about governance).
- war is a violent way for determining who gets to say what goes on in a given territory
- war is the ultimate means for deciding these issues if a peaceful process or resolution can’t be
agreed upon.
Causes of War: Religion – Economics – Ideology & Politics – Nationalism & Ethnicity
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
War and the Struggle for Security
A classical understanding of what it means to be politically secure would suggest that human
beings group together in nations to enhance their capacity to be safe, to protect the fruits of
labour, the property they’ve acquired.
Before we live in an arrangement like this, we live a “state of nature” where the only ultimate
authority is the violence that decides conflicts between those looking to protect their interests.
However, there is an irony to the security we pursue by trying to escape the state of nature
We are still in a state of nature as individual states as there is no globalized state of nature.
Wars throughout History
For centuries, different religions, cultures and countries have waged war for a variety of reasons.
[ Prof Kantorek Preaches the “Glory of the Fatherland” in “All Quiet on the Western Front” ]
War
War’s violent nature, and controversial social effects, raise troubling moral questions for any thoughtful
person…
While warfare has never lacked its enthusiasts, most theorists would sympathise with the
sentiments of the poet Charles Sorley, writing in 1915, a few months before his death, aged 21
at the battle of Loos:
[ ‘There is no such thing as a just war. What we are doing is casting out Satan by Satan.’ ]
However, many would agree that, while war is always an evil, some devils are worse than
others. Yes, war is to be avoided if possible, but not at any cost. It may be the lesser of two evils;
the recourse to arms is morally justified.
- Thus, in these circumstances, war could be considered a just war.
Is War ever just?
“Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death, the way to survival or
extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed”
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Justice in War
Some find the idea that there can be “justice” in war to be absurb because, as Clausewitz
argues, the logic of war tends to lead to spirals of violence which cannot be controlled.
Should a country be allowed to mount pre-emptive attack on another country that it feels
threatened by, even if that country has not attacked it yet?
Just War Theory
The philosophical debate over the morality of war, is just as relevant today as ever
“just war” theory can be traced back to people like Aristotle & Cicero, whi argued that war in
self-defence was justified.
The conversion of the Roman empire to Christianity in the 4th C called for a compromise
between the pacifist leanings of the early church and the military needs of imperial rulers.
In the 4th & 5th C, church fathers, Augustine & Ambrose of Milan, added that only legitimate
authorities can wage war as a last resort for the purpose of restoring peace.
Thomas Aquinas (13th C) drew these strands together and highlighted other important aspects,
as well as looking at the conduct of war, his is regarded as the “classic” theory
- those who wage war justly must have rightful intention (i.e. aim at peace!)
- Aquinas developed the now canonical distinction between ‘jus ad bellum’ and ‘jus in bello’
(the debate in the just war theory is essentially structured around these two things)
What plausible justifications exist for resorting to war? How should war be fought?
Jus ad bellum: the justice of going to war; defines the legitimate reasons a state may engage in
war and focuses on certain criteria that render a war just
Jus in bello: justice in the conduct of war; the set of laws that come into effect once a war has
begun. Its purpose is to regulate how wars are fought, without prejudice to the reasons of how
or why they had begun
More recently, the moral debate has focused on: Jus post bellum: justice after war
[ Michael Walzer on Just War Theory ]
6 Criteria for ‘jus ad bellum’
in order to justify going to war these criteria should be met.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
War is an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict often carried out by states, and a form of political violence or intervention. Whether armed conflict between states, civil war within a state, or even terrorism as the asymmetrical attempt to influence a state. A state is an independent, organized self-governing political community living under a unified political system (i. e. a government and governing institutions such as a bureaucracy, a justice system, military, civil service) A basic purpose of the state is to provide law, order, and security. A state maintains a monopoly of the legitimate use of force within a certain territory. War is the greatest scale on which human beings pursue their security. War is in many ways (even deeply misguided ones) a massive operation dedicated to the attempt to try to contain a security threat caused by another country or organization, one which has the . A terrible process that brings about death, destruction, and even inhumanity.
