Examine the Conditions Laid Down for the “Just War Theory”.
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Examine the conditions laid down for the “Just War Theory”.
The “Just War Theory” was first put in place by St Augustine. He was ordered by Emperor Constantine, a Christian, to posit a theory that makes violence a legitimate Christian practice. Many Roman soldiers had converted to Christianity, and since ostensibly Jesus preached non-violence, “turn the other cheek” many did not want to fight.
Augustine divided his theory into two parts, just reasons for going to war, and just actions during war. He called these, Jus Ad Bellum and Jus In Bello. The first criteria for Jus Ad Bellum is Just Authority, it must be ordered by a competent and legitimate authority. For example in the Bible, it reads, “sharpen your ploughshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears”. This is a clear condonement made by a Holy Scripture which would be considered a Just Authority. Another criteria is Just Cause. This means there must be a just reason for going to war. For example, some might consider the Iraq War unjust because the reason for going e.g oil and to exert our influence was not right. The Italian philosophers Suarez and Vitoria added several other criteria including Last resort which means all peaceful alternatives must first have been attempted. For example the fact Chamberlain appeased and reasoned with Hitler makes the second world war a just war.
The second theory Augustine posited was that of Jus In Bello, or just actions during war. The Geneva Convention is a modern-day example of a governing Jus In Bello body. The context of when Jus In Bello measures were introduced was in the time of the Middle Ages. Jus In Bello promoted chivalry and good grace. Attributes seemingly forgotten when Christian forces embarked on the Crusades. For example it has banned chemical weapons and dum-dum bullets. A key idea in Augustine’s definition of Jus In Bello is discrimination. This means only active participants must be captured or killed. For example in Matthew, it says...
The “Just War Theory” was first put in place by St Augustine. He was ordered by Emperor Constantine, a Christian, to posit a theory that makes violence a legitimate Christian practice. Many Roman soldiers had converted to Christianity, and since ostensibly Jesus preached non-violence, “turn the other cheek” many did not want to fight.
Augustine divided his theory into two parts, just reasons for going to war, and just actions during war. He called these, Jus Ad Bellum and Jus In Bello. The first criteria for Jus Ad Bellum is Just Authority, it must be ordered by a competent and legitimate authority. For example in the Bible, it reads, “sharpen your ploughshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears”. This is a clear condonement made by a Holy Scripture which would be considered a Just Authority. Another criteria is Just Cause. This means there must be a just reason for going to war. For example, some might consider the Iraq War unjust because the reason for going e.g oil and to exert our influence was not right. The Italian philosophers Suarez and Vitoria added several other criteria including Last resort which means all peaceful alternatives must first have been attempted. For example the fact Chamberlain appeased and reasoned with Hitler makes the second world war a just war.
The second theory Augustine posited was that of Jus In Bello, or just actions during war. The Geneva Convention is a modern-day example of a governing Jus In Bello body. The context of when Jus In Bello measures were introduced was in the time of the Middle Ages. Jus In Bello promoted chivalry and good grace. Attributes seemingly forgotten when Christian forces embarked on the Crusades. For example it has banned chemical weapons and dum-dum bullets. A key idea in Augustine’s definition of Jus In Bello is discrimination. This means only active participants must be captured or killed. For example in Matthew, it says...