PHIL 1610 Lecture Notes - Summa Theologica, Jus Ad Bellum, Just War Theory
24 Mar 2014
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Thomas aquinas was a catholic priest from italy. He was a proponent of natural theology (theology which is based on reason and experience). He provided arguments on the nature of god, human virtues, etc. His philosophical and technological ideas are based upon aristotle"s metaphysics and logic. Question 40 of summa theologiae is the question of just war. Waging war is unlawful, both, by the will of god and by the fact that war is contrary to peace (virtue), therefore, war is contrary to virtue and therefore its a sin. Thomas aquinas response to this argument: (just as augustine points out) god and the bible may label war as a sin, but they do not forbid soldiering. In other words, for aquinas only unjust war is sinful and unlawful. If war is waged the right way, then it is not a sin, and it is not to be considered unlawful.
