Is War Ever Morally Justified? Essay
When discussing the domain of war, it is necessary to stress its ethical component. Almost any war implies mass and institutional violence, which has a purposeful character and assumes a strain between countries. It is crucial that this phenomenon is deeply rooted in history since wars have been perceived as the most common form of communication between states, which is confirmed by historical reality. However, this mode of interaction has also been regarded as a strongly negative format of interstate relations. The purpose of this paper is to provide arguments that a moral justification of war is impossible based on a critical discussion of theories supporting the ethical justification of warfare and prove that they have inherent contradictions and are likely to lead to further negative manifestations and consequences.
In order to understand the arguments that make it possible to justify war from the standpoint of morality, it is crucial to analyze the history of this phenomenon. Initially, a war was considered acceptable if the participants in this process acted in accordance with the existing rules and had justified their reasons for unleashing the military conflict (Kovac, 2013). If these conditions were not followed, the conflict was considered barbarous. The distinction between a morally justified and an immoral war depended on the purpose of initiating it and the side against which the warfare was unleashed. Some experts in the field claimed that wars derived from the social order of the world (Kovac, 2013).
For example, some theorists believed that war was a necessary state of humanity. Opponents of this position argued that people were benign beings by their nature who could come to unanimity without the use of force and violence. However, a social space and its structure pushed states to fight with each other. Although these beliefs were diametrically opposed, they revealed a general understanding of wars, which implied that they could be morally justified since they were a prerequisite for the development of the world.
One of the fundamental approaches that consider similar arguments to justify the use of military action is realism. In this theory, the emphasis is placed on the political aims of war. The conduct of war is not only a seizure of territory and victory over the enemy but also an unsurpassed opportunity to have an impact on the opponent’s consciousness. Justification of war from this standpoint lies in social antagonisms that reach the level of interstate contradictions (Morkevičius, 2015). Consequently, in this approach, war has a rational explanation and is an inevitable given.
However, when arguing whether or not realism allows justifying war from a moral perspective, it is necessary to note that this theory breeds such concepts as “war” and “morality” on different sides of the barricades (Morkevičius, 2015). Thus, a military action cannot be considered from the position of morality. Due to the fact that war is regarded in the context of political action and affects interests of state structures, realism cannot justify war from a moral point of view.
Another direction that justifies the use of military action is the theory of militarism. In general, it is a reactionary policy of strengthening military power and intensifying military preparations. It is interesting that this theory has a specific discourse on the moral justification of military action (Morkevičius, 2015). In particular, war is compatible with morality in the sense that it does not allow society to regress. For example, when justifying a military conflict, experts supporting this position suggest that war stimulates the development or emergence of moral values.
It is reasonable to assume that without wars the evolution of such domain as justice would be impossible. However, such an argument can be rejected as this approach proclaims the apotheosis of war (Morkevičius, 2015). In this connection, in society, a threat of total war of annihilation is increasing.
Interestingly enough, there is a position that fundamentally opposes any wars, which is pacifism. No military confrontation can be ethically justified, and the supporters of pacifism morally condemn any armed struggle since it inevitably leads to human casualties. Therefore, this theory strives for a peaceful conflict resolution. Initiation of war is rejected as a means to resolve international disagreements since it affects the lives of civilians (Ryan, 2013). Moreover, a pivotal argument in this approach is that people also should not resort to violence in response to the evil exhibited towards them.
Despite the fact that pacifism morally denounces wars and any justifications of them, this view is subjective in some cases. Although pacifism pursues a humanistic worldview, this approach contains a contradiction on a fundamental level. There are different modes of pacifism ranging from its absolute form, which views wars as univocal evil, to pacifism that has a conditional character. In the latter case, violence is likely to be morally justified under certain circumstances (Ryan, 2013).
Moreover, these factors are determined by specific political conditions. Consequently, conditional pacifism also has a connection with theories that support a moral justification of wars. Notably, having reviewed the arguments that either defend or reject the moral component of war, it becomes possible to observe the counter movement of militarism and pacifism towards each other (Ryan, 2013). At the confluence of some circumstances, pacifism can justify the need for violence against people while militarism can exhibit an opposite tendency.
Just war theory is another popular approach, which argues that it is possible to justify the emergence and conduct of a military action from the ethical point of view. The concept is a compilation of certain aspects of pacifism and militarism. The concept is based on two fundamental principles of jus ad bellum and jus in bello (Sussmann, 2013). According to the first principle, war can be morally justified if certain rational causes are present and violence is applied to ensure international order and security. At the same time, war should be wielded by legitimate authority. Moreover, a military action can be justified if it does not imply implementation of bad intentions.
An important factor that this theory includes is that both sides should participate in a war only if they are not doomed to failure (the forces are distributed evenly among the opponents). Also, another principle presupposing the moral justification of war is that it should be an extreme measure to which a state resorts (when diplomatic measures prove to be ineffective) (Sussmann, 2013). From the standpoint of the second fundamental principle ( jus in bello ), a military conflict can be ethically viable when a pragmatic principle of a probability of success is observed. An aspect of paramount importance that this theory has is that a military conflict should prevent a greater evil.
On the one hand, in this concept, it is possible to discern a rational grain. Just war theory does not denounce war initially as pacifism does (Ryan, 2013). Also, in this concept, military conflicts are not glorified as in the theory of militarism. Moreover, unlike realism, just war theory does not subordinate a military action to the political necessity but requires a moral basis (Sussmann, 2013). On the other hand, it can be argued that war cannot be morally justified when relying on the principles of this concept since they have high flexibility; therefore, they lose their objectivity.
The general purpose of just war theory lies in its potential to maintain violence at a morally acceptable level. However, jus ad bellum and jus in bello contradict each other in their core. Importantly, the discrepancies can be detected in the conceptual apparatus of the theory. Moreover, they reveal a practical inconsistency of the concept.
An example of the way just war theory exhibits contradictory arguments lies in its interpretation of legitimate power. Notably, every state has a legitimate government; however, in the case when civilians rebel against it in order to establish a new government, it becomes impossible to determine what power should be considered legitimate (Sussmann, 2013). Thus, the argumentation proposed in the theory leads to a paradox.
Moreover, the understanding of evil proposed in the concept also contains a contradiction. For example, according to this approach, good can fight evil using force. In addition, each of the opponents can offer their understanding of evil and initiate a military conflict to achieve justice (Sussmann, 2013). Thus, despite the fact that just war theory provides stronger arguments than such approaches as realism, militarism, and pacifism do, this concept also does not offer normative provisions that allow justifying war from a moral perspective.
Comparing the arguments provided above, it can be stated that wars cannot be morally justified for a number of reasons. The discussed theories and their arguments focus on human rights or the need of countries to subordinate military conflicts to a political necessity (Kovac, 2013). However, such a worldview revives the theological meaning of war, which has already had severe consequences. In particular, such argumentation makes it possible to justify humanitarian intervention from the position of morality.
Large-scale negative outcomes of such a reasoning can be observed in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan and some other states. Moreover, these arguments lead to the emergence of hybrid wars, which are global police operations in their core (Sussmann, 2013). In addition, when substantiating wars from the ethical perspective, radicals receive a moral right to proclaim their supreme ethical value as the cause of war. It will lead to the fact that disparate values will inevitably resonate with each other.
Thus, it can be concluded that wars cannot be morally justified. Despite the fact that different theories provide multiple arguments to prove a polar worldview, these assumptions often contain contradiction. Many of the approaches discussed in the paper rely on the historically formed idea that war is an essential state of humanity since it allows the world to develop, and warfare is acceptable when it relies on some common principles. Nonetheless, this mode of justification is not related to morality. However, more importantly, the points provided in different theories leave room to subjectivism and interpretation, which can evolve in further negative manifestations such as wars veiled under humanitarian interventions or other overtones.
Kovac, J. (2013). Science, ethics and war: A pacifist’s perspective. Science and Engineering Ethics, 19 (2), 449-460.
Morkevičius, V. (2015). Power and order: The shared logics of realism and just war theory. International Studies Quarterly, 59 (1), 11-22.
Ryan, C. (2013). Pacifism, just war, and self-defense. Philosophia, 41 (4), 977-1005.
Sussmann, N. (2013). Can just war theory delegitimate terrorism? European Journal of Political Theory, 12 (4), 425-446.
- Torture as Morally Unjustifiable Practice
- Ethical Standards in Social Work
- Militarism in China and Its Advantages
- US Militarism: War Brides and Internment
- Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Theory of Just War
- Ethics and Social Responsibility Aspects
- Planned Parenthood and Women’s Rights
- Lethal Autonomous Weapons and Virtue Theory
- Is Abortion Morally Justified?
- Abortion Debate: Immoral Aspect of Pregnancy Termination
- Chicago (A-D)
- Chicago (N-B)
IvyPanda. (2020, October 31). Is War Ever Morally Justified? https://ivypanda.com/essays/is-war-ever-morally-justified/
"Is War Ever Morally Justified?" IvyPanda , 31 Oct. 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/is-war-ever-morally-justified/.
IvyPanda . (2020) 'Is War Ever Morally Justified'. 31 October.
IvyPanda . 2020. "Is War Ever Morally Justified?" October 31, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/is-war-ever-morally-justified/.
1. IvyPanda . "Is War Ever Morally Justified?" October 31, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/is-war-ever-morally-justified/.
Bibliography
IvyPanda . "Is War Ever Morally Justified?" October 31, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/is-war-ever-morally-justified/.
- To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
- As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
- As a template for you assignment
Recommended pages
- Undergraduate open days
- Postgraduate open days
- Accommodation
- Information for teachers
- Maps and directions
- Sport and fitness
The ethics of warfare: Is it ever morally right to kill on a massive scale
War has been puzzling philosophers for centuries, and it isn’t hard to see why. What could be more intuitive or ethical than the belief that it is morally wrong to kill on a massive scale?
However, many would argue that there are times when war is morally permissible, and even obligatory. The most famous way of ethically assessing war is to use ‘Just War Theory’; a tradition going back to St. Augustine in the 5th Century and St. Thomas in the 13th Century. Just War theory considers the reasons for going to war (Jus ad bellum) and the conduct of war (Jus in bello). This distinction is important. A war might be ethical but the means unethical, for instance, using landmines, torture, chemicals and current debate is concerned with drones.
Just War theory sets out principles for a war to be ethical. The war must be:
- Waged by a legitimate authority (usually interpreted as states)
- In a just cause
- Waged with right intention
- Have a strong probability of success
- Be a last resort
- Be proportional
In addition, there are three principles for conduct in war:
- Discrimination (distinguishing between enemy combatants and non-combatants)
- Proportionality (the harms must be proportional to the gains)
- Actions must be militarily necessary
When attempting to apply and interpret these principles considerable disagreement arises, as evidenced by the – still ongoing – debate about the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. Just war principles are used to address the question of whether the war lacked legitimate authority without a UN Resolution.
Legitimate authority is at issue in all conflicts, including those considered to be acts of terrorism or insurgency. Think about recent uprisings such as the 2011 ousting of Gaddafi's regime in Libya and the other movements loosely termed the Arab Spring; and most timely the current debate about whether to arm the ‘rebels’ in Syria. Are these legitimate authorities? And does legitimate authority make sense anymore?
Establishing ‘just cause’ is also problematic, for example, self-defence is widely recognised, and the UN Charter grants states a right to defend themselves. However, other ‘just causes’ are more difficult to defend. Particularly controversial is humanitarian intervention, even though it is sometimes seen as obligatory and indeed, the most ethical reason for war. It was for humanitarian reasons that NATO intervened in Kosovo in 1999, but, there are other instances where humanitarian disasters are left (perhaps most controversially the failure to intervene in the Rwandan genocide in 1994).
All criteria are problematic and hard to meet. Think about ‘right intention’ with regard to the 2003 Iraq war and discussions about the ‘real’ motives of Bush and Blair. And when we come to proportionality, the contemporary debate is particularly fraught. Can it ever be proportional to use drones where there is no risk to life on one side and risk to many lives (including civilian lives) on the other? And when battles are fought in villages and homes by those with no uniforms, how can the principle of discrimination ever be respected – and indeed should it be?
The character of war is changing fast and the ethics needs to keep pace with that change. These particular principles might well need revision. But we should not imagine the fundamental ethical issues have changed. It is still the case that in a sense war is inherently unethical. To be justified, significant ethical reasons are required and although imperfect Just War theory continues to be one way to seek such reasons.
Heather Widdows, Professor of Global Ethics, Department of Philosophy, Co-Leader of Saving Humans IAS theme
Is War Ever Justified? “The Man i Killed”
A contemplative discussion on the moral and ethical aspects of war, using Tim O’Brien’s “The Man I Killed” as a central reference. This essay will explore the psychological and moral dilemmas faced by soldiers in combat. PapersOwl showcases more free essays that are examples of Civil War.
How it works
There’s no beauty in war, in loss, or in suffering; war is a phenomenon that has caused the death of innocent lives, affected many families, and caused destruction. It can't be justified. Soldiers who go to war do not only suffer on the battlefield but also suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder after the war ends. This disorder can take them years to regain their lives back after their return home because the trauma they saw, experienced, and witnessed, forever changed and caused fear in their lives. Need a custom essay on the same topic? Give us your paper requirements, choose a writer and we’ll deliver the highest-quality essay! Order now
In “The Man I Killed”, Tim O’Brien, a war veteran himself, explains the psychological impact of killing a man during the Vietnam War. After taking the life of a young Vietnamese soldier, he feels guilty because he realized that the man he killed is not the buff, wicked, and terrifying enemy he was expecting. Jason Hartley, another war veteran who served in Iraq after the 9/11 attacks write about his experiences at war and the mentality he used to prevent himself from being exposed to psychological trauma in his text, “I, Jailor.”
Although both authors had different experiences at war and were affected differently, O’Brien and Hartley are fully aware that war can certainly alter a soldier's sense of normalcy because they are greatly affected by Post-traumatic stress disorder, a disorder that affects one’s mental health and state of mind for a long period of time and possibly a lifetime. A soldier’s morality is also affected at war because they have no choice but to dehumanize their rivals, in the sake of protecting their sanity, their lives, and their friends' lives.
Exposure to war causes serious psychological trauma, especially post-traumatic stress disorder. Out of all the consequences of war, the impact of psychological trauma is the most significant because it can affect a soldier’s mental health and well-being for a long time after the war. Post-traumatic stress disorder, known as shell shock or combat stress, occurs after soldiers experience severe trauma or a life-threatening event.
During this type of event, they believe that their life is in danger and fear anything that reminds them of their traumatic experiences. Some sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder cannot reset a soldier’s body to its normal state, but instead causes their body to function at the heightened state it adopted during the traumatic event; affecting both their behavior and their attitude (Paulson, Krippner 3).
Tim O’Brien is among one of the thousands of soldiers who experienced PTSD post-war as he is in somewhat of a nightmarish daze after taking the life of a young man. Even though his friends tried to get him to stop looking at the dead body and convince him that what he did was right, the guilt keeps growing for him as he continues to stare at the body. O’Brien states, “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole… he lay face-up in the center of the trail, a slim, dead man almost dainty young man” (O’Brien 172).
The detailed descriptions of the dead man’s body show the horrific impacts of war in a physical aspect and O'Brien's guilt almost takes on its own rhythm in the repetition of phrases, and observations about the man’s body. The ideal of the dead soldier is a “slim, young, dainty man,” which shows that O’Brien’s killed someone who was innocent and not meant to be fighting in the war. In “Haunted by Combat: Understanding PTSD in War Veterans” Daryl Paulson, a psychologist and a veteran of the United States Marines who served in Vietnam and Stanley Krippner, a professor of psychology further explores the many effects caused by war and how veterans are haunted by them post-war. Using first-hand accounts, Paulson and Krippner overview the effects of trauma on the mind and the body.
In the text, it states, “Traumas are assaults on the human mind/body system that affects numerous subsystems, such as physiological, psychoneurological, social-emotional, and/or spiritual functions… this means that the original trauma, rather than being relegated to the past, is still a powerful influence on a person’s behavior in such a way that her or his response may be dictated by it” (Paulson, Krippner 3). This quote shows that experiencing trauma can affect one's mind and body in ways that they no longer function the same and instead of the traumatic experiences fading away as time goes on, it remains present and interferes with one’s state of mind and their overall well-being. War strips away the idea of living a normal life because soldiers who are affected by post-traumatic stress disorder struggle against the traumatic events lingering in their minds, causing them to live their lives in poor mental health.
The behavior of dehumanizing people can eventually lead to post-traumatic stress disorder in the future. War promotes soldiers to dehumanize their rivals, all in favor of protecting their sanity, their lives, and their friends' lives. To be specific, soldiers must dehumanize one another by negating the characteristics normally associated with human beings, such as morality and compassion. This is done because it allows them to kill another human being without feeling any remorse.
However, soldiers may not realize it but engaging in violent humanizing behavior can be a later trigger for PTSD. O’Brien’s texts emphasize the significance of dehumanizing during the battle at war but describe an occasion where he humanizes the man he killed, which caused him to be terrified. He writes, “He lay face-up in the center of the trail, a slim, dead, almost dainty young man… his chest was sunken and poorly muscled a scholar, maybe… he wore a black shirt, black pajama pants, a gray ammunition belt … his rubber sandals had been blown off” (O’Brien 172).
O'Brien describes the man's face again and again and repeats the same details to show his grief and acknowledge his innocence. He continues to build a life for this dead man with his imagination to quell his guilt, predicting that he might have been a scholar just like himself. While O’Brien is grieving over the dead body, his friend Azar shows no form of compassion, but instead, he compares the dead body to ‘shredded wheat’ ‘oatmeal’ and ‘rice crispies.’ Unlike O’Brien, Azar has mastered the way a soldier should handle death showing no emotions. This shows how important it is for soldiers to dehumanize their rivals so that they are unable to feel guilty for taking the life of someone else, just like O'Brien felt. Similarly, to Azar Jason Hartley is willing to go the extra mile to protect himself from any future psychological trauma.
He writes that “The first step is to remove the person-ness from your enemy. Once you remove his humanity in your mind distance him from you, the human, it’s easier to kill him if it comes down to that” (Hartley 1053). Hartley believes that to be a soldier is to not think of your enemy as a person with feelings or emotions. By mastering this mentality, it will make it easier to kill without feeling any regret. Although soldiers try to protect themselves by dehumanizing the opposing country’s soldiers, it is hard to avoid the long-term consequences of PTSD. Dehumanization not only allows soldiers to kill innocent lives, but it also eliminates the soldier’s soul of any humanity.
Paulson and Krippner would agree that soldiers who go to war react differently to traumatic experiences. This is shown in the text as stated, “Some of them undergo brutal forms of torture immediately; others experience a more selectively applied torture, designed not only to fracture them physically but also to humiliate and degrade them and undermine their humanity” (Paulson, Krippner 65) Just like Tim in “The Man I Killed,” he kills an enemy and thinks about him non-stop and even tries to empathize with the dead man.
By performing this behavior, O’Brien might be better off long-term while other soldiers like Azar and Jason Hartley may have more guilt later on. This is especially because Tim is directly facing what he did and is immediately thinking about the consequences of his action. Whereas the other soldiers show no compassion and prefer to move on with their lives. Sometimes, soldiers try to close themselves off but what they don’t realize is by closing themselves off, they are more likely to develop something like post-traumatic stress disorder.
War is a phenomenon that has caused psychological effects on soldiers by stripping them of their sense of normalcy and morality. After the war, soldiers live their lives in fear, their mental health is damaged, and their state of mind is no longer the same. This happens because during the war they witnessed and experienced a great degree of trauma.
Just like Tim O’Brien who has flashbacks and cannot get over the fact that he killed an enemy nor can he get the image of the dead’s man body out of his head. Jason Hartley on the other hand was able to protect himself from future psychological trauma but still makes it aware that war can do serious damage to a person’s mental state of mind. O’Brien, Hartley, Paulson and Krippner texts establish that war is a destructor of both the physical world and the human psyche. The long-term effects of war should be acknowledged and perhaps future soldiers should educate themselves on these effects because war does not affect a person for a specific amount of time, it affects them for the rest of their lives.
Cite this page
Is War Ever Justified? “The Man I Killed”. (2021, May 06). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/is-war-ever-justified/
"Is War Ever Justified? “The Man I Killed”." PapersOwl.com , 6 May 2021, https://papersowl.com/examples/is-war-ever-justified/
PapersOwl.com. (2021). Is War Ever Justified? “The Man I Killed” . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/is-war-ever-justified/ [Accessed: 25 Nov. 2024]
"Is War Ever Justified? “The Man I Killed”." PapersOwl.com, May 06, 2021. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/is-war-ever-justified/
"Is War Ever Justified? “The Man I Killed”," PapersOwl.com , 06-May-2021. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/is-war-ever-justified/. [Accessed: 25-Nov-2024]
PapersOwl.com. (2021). Is War Ever Justified? “The Man I Killed” . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/is-war-ever-justified/ [Accessed: 25-Nov-2024]
Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade
Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.
Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!
Please check your inbox.
You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.
Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide
1. Tell Us Your Requirements
2. Pick your perfect writer
3. Get Your Paper and Pay
Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!
Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.
short deadlines
100% Plagiarism-Free
Certified writers
Home — Essay Samples — Science — Rat — Is War Justified? An Examination of Ethical and Pragmatic Considerations
Is War Justified? an Examination of Ethical and Pragmatic Considerations
- Categories: Rat
About this sample
Words: 766 |
Published: Jun 13, 2024
Words: 766 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read
Table of contents
Introduction, body paragraph 1: ethical considerations, body paragraph 2: legal and political dimensions, body paragraph 3: pragmatic considerations.
Cite this Essay
To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:
Let us write you an essay from scratch
- 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
- Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours
Get high-quality help
Prof. Kifaru
Verified writer
- Expert in: Science
+ 120 experts online
By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email
No need to pay just yet!
Related Essays
1 pages / 502 words
2 pages / 880 words
3 pages / 1323 words
1 pages / 564 words
Remember! This is just a sample.
You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.
121 writers online
Still can’t find what you need?
Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled
Related Essays on Rat
The culinary arts, as a domain, encapsulate the essence of culture, tradition, and innovation. At the heart of this vibrant field is the chef, an individual who orchestrates ingredients into symphonies of flavor and texture. [...]
Island hopping, a term often associated with military strategy in the Pacific Theater during World War II, also encapsulates a broader narrative of exploration, cultural exchange, and ecological impact. The concept involves [...]
Advanced literature, encompassing classical texts, modernist works, and postmodern narratives, holds a pivotal place in the educational, cultural, and intellectual spheres of society. It serves not only as a repository of human [...]
Immigration is a multifaceted phenomenon that has both positive and negative implications for countries around the world. As people move across borders for various reasons—be it economic opportunities, political asylum, or [...]
Templeton the Rat is a character from E.B. White's beloved children's book, "Charlotte's Web." While often overshadowed by the more famous characters of Charlotte the spider and Wilbur the pig, Templeton plays a crucial role in [...]
Naguib Mahfouz, a pioneering Arabic author, expresses his frustration with government through themes of individual freedoms in society and the ineffectiveness of government within his short story, The Norwegian Rat. Born on [...]
Related Topics
By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.
Where do you want us to send this sample?
By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.
Be careful. This essay is not unique
This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before
Download this Sample
Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts
Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.
Please check your inbox.
We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!
Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!
We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .
- Instructions Followed To The Letter
- Deadlines Met At Every Stage
- Unique And Plagiarism Free
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
When applied to the problem ‘can war be justified,’ you must look ahead to see what the consequences of a war will be – if the war will have a greater overall benefit, thinking of future generations.
According to the first principle, war can be morally justified if certain rational causes are present and violence is applied to ensure international order and security. At the same time, war should be wielded by legitimate authority.
In this essay, I will give arguments that can justify war and the counterarguments that oppose the act of war. One argument is that a war can be justified when it's necessary for a country to protect itself from foreseeable danger.
Thomas Aquinas held that a war can only be justified if three conditions are satisfied. The war must be legally declared by a public authority that is legitimately authorized to commit a people to war; the war must be declared by someone who can be entrusted with the care of the common good and a legal authority to declare a war.
Can war ever be morally justifiable? Defining what war is requires determining the entities that are allowed to begin and engage in war. And a person’s definition of war often expresses the person’s broader political philosophy, such as limiting war to a conflict between nations or state.
However, many would argue that there are times when war is morally permissible, and even obligatory. The most famous way of ethically assessing war is to use ‘Just War Theory’; a tradition going back to St. Augustine in the 5th Century and St. Thomas in the 13th Century.
Both just war theory and the law distinguished between the justification for the resort to war (jus ad bellum) and justified conduct in war (jus in bello). In most presentations of the theory of the just war there are six principles of jus ad bellum, each with its own label: just cause,
Essay Example: There’s no beauty in war, in loss, or in suffering; war is a phenomenon that has caused the death of innocent lives, affected many families, and caused destruction. It can't be justified. Soldiers who go to war do not only suffer on the battlefield but also suffer from post-traumatic
According to Just War Theory, war can be justified if it meets certain conditions such as having a just cause, being declared by a legitimate authority, possessing the right intention, and being a last resort. For instance, self-defense is widely accepted as a just cause for war.
The question then arises whether action in such circumstances may be morally justified regardless of the lack of legal justification. Arguments that it can be generally find their roots in ‘just war theory’.