POL208Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Just War Theory, Nuremberg Trials
Document Summary
The idea that war is someimes unavoidable and necessary. However, they are and should be rule and limits concerning what they can do. Aztec empire: would schedule batles at a speciied place and ime with a speciied amount of warriors and the winning side would get to make the disputed decision. China: chinese thinkers/realists thought that war should be undertaken only when the cause is just and the ciizens are protected. Ancient greece: all the popular thinkers (plato, aristotle, etc) talked about the limit to war. Chrisian scholars, however, brought the most inluenial contribuions to this theory. Synthesizes ideas from classic european civilizaions and added his own theory. There are three circumstance where war is jusiied: when it is over a just cause. It cannot be an act of aggression: state of war must be declared/approved by a sovereign, the ulimate goal must be peace. He doesn"t hold individual soldiers responsible for their acions if they are simply following orders.