Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Today, war is such a big issue because the world feels a lot smaller because
of the increased use of communications like television. The majority of
casualties today are civilians, who lose their homes, their livelihood, even
their lives. War spills over into terrorism, which presents an even greater
threat to everyday life. In comparison, the wars that were fought
thousands of years ago were fought by professional soldiers in lands far
away from our own, therefore we did not feel as connected as we do now.
Wars in the Old Testament were brutal; Jews believed God commanded
them to fight their enemies. Stories also indicate their belief that It was
acceptable to massacre non combatants; Deuteronomy 3;24 records the
total annihilation of the King Sihons subjects; women and children
included. ‘We left no survivors’ the scribe records.
Jesus preached non violence, he said ‘do not take revenge on someone
who wrongs you’ (Matthew 5;29) The early church adapted this pacifist
approach until Christianity became the official religion of the Roman
Empire.
Self Defence: However what about pre-emptive action is this justified Iraq 2003
Human Right Violations: Darfur, Cambodia and Uganda in 1970s & Rwanda in
1990s
To Punish Act of Aggression: Britain joining the two world wars
Problem!
If you invade a country to stop it doing something to its people e.g Massacring
them or because it has invaded somewhere else- you are then invading their
sovereignty giving them Just Cause for war!
the claims of both sides must be evaluated before war can be started. It is
called comparative justice
There must be a reasonable chance of success to prevent the irrational resort
to force or hopeless resistance when the outcome of either will clearly be
disproportionate or futile. This would prevent people being killed or maimed
( wounded or injured) for a hopeless cause
Proportionality- the damage to be inflicted and the costs incurred by a war
must be proportionate to the good expected by taking up arms which means
it would be morally wrong to use excessive force to achieve a small gain
War must be the last resort after all other attempts to resolve the dispute by
negotiation have failed
only legitimate targets should be attacked and there should be
discrimination between combatants and innocent civillians
Legitimate Authority
What problems arise with the recognised authority clause in these situations?
A civil war
How do you choose who is legitimate authority, in theory the tyrant is,
only the democratic authority should be the legitimate authority
Just having a reason for war is not enough it must be moral- but what
intention is the right one?
These can be relative e.g. Vikings believe it was justified to seek wealth by
raping and pillaging wherever they went and the crusaders believed it was
right to invade the Holy Land to reclaim it for Christianity
Augustine argued it should be only to achieve peace with God on your side
to aim for the general good.
Likelihood of Success?
What is success in war? killing everyone, or gaining what you set out to
achieve
Considered wrong to start a war you have no hope of winning
Proportionality
This considers the reaction and equality of each side. You have to take into
account the consequence for all involved
e.g a war over a drunken bar brawl is disproportionate, America nuking the
Isle of Wight would be disproportionate, however you could argue that the
US invading Iraq in 1991 could be proportionate as Iraq had invaded a small
weaker country Kuwait.
Last Resort
Good in theory everyone agrees you should avoid war where ever possible
Sanctions such as trade embargoes don’t work just look at the situation in
Zimbabwe before the Gulf War. It is the normal people who suffer not
those in power
Proportionality- do not forget the suffering of those on the other side, has to be
tactically necessary e.g. Dresden, Hiroshima
No means mala in se- methods evil in themselves e.g. mass rape, biological
weapons
No reprisals
Protect the rights of their own citizens e.g freedom of the press, conscription
Deontological Consequentialist
Legitimate authority Likelihood for success
Last resort
Just Cause
Right Intention
Strengths Weaknesses
Realists fully appreciate the horrors of war and so, like others, try to assess the
costs, but they also respond to war in terms of its benefits. War sometimes gives a
state extra land or resources. Realists argue that war is a non moral activity-
actions such as killing, maiming or steal may be wrong for individuals but have no
application to nations in times of war. So if a state is thinking of going to war with
another state, it does not have to have moral reasons before actually long a war.
Neither can the warring nations be criticised for how they fight the war.
They believe that there is no real moral authority over nations telling them how to
act.
The threat of war and war itself make it impossible for any nation to do anything
but act in its own interest- there is no time to do anything else.
However, even if realists do not accept moral principles, they can still act in line
with them, as it is often more practical to do so ( eg treat prisoners of war well) in
addition, a nation often cannot afford to alienate a nation which does follow the
Just War principles. realists say that it is important to protect the states citizens.
realists really say that anything is fair when it comes to war, and only self interest
matters, ethics and war do not mix
Christian Realism- the belief that Christians may use violence to bring about the
kingdom of God on Earth, Old testament, vengeful God (Jerchio)
Peace= good
Respect human life = good
Reject just war theory and realism, things should be sorted out with discussion for
example through the UN
Hard to persuade people to follow and surely we have to protect the weak
Really straight forward to apply with no long list like Just War
Christianity
Quakers
Violence only leaders to more violence, people should work to overcome conflict
in other ways. They however do not disagree with the states right to defend itself
merely they should not be involved- conscientious objectors
During ww1 they were often imprisoned or worked in the very dangerous job of
stretcher bearer with a similar death rate to front line troops
Ghandi led many peaceful non-operation protests to gain independence for India.
Following the Hindu belief of ahimsa
Baptist minister martin Luther King Jr. preached peaceful protest to gain civil
rights for black Americans
Merton: was a Catholic monk in the 20th century who wanted to win peoples
minds instead of reacting violently. This is the Vatican’s view on war
Wink: protestant writer who says Augustine’s just war theory has made
Christianity war like.
Contingent Pacificism
However they accept sometimes it is the lesser of two evils eg. WWII was a
necessary evil
Preferential pacifism
Strengths Weaknesses
Clear cut- all violence is wrong You have the right to defend
yourself, the world is not full of
pacifists
It closely follows the teachings Innocent people need to be
of Jesus in the New testament protected from abuse or
genocide
Promotes the sanctity of life Is powerless against modern
and the ultimate value of weapons such as biological or
human life nuclear WMDs
Supports the view point of the Pacifism allows evil to
early Christian church dominate
The state should have the right
to defend itself