Ethics Of War

War is an extremely controversial topic, especially amongst philosophers. It raises many ethical and political questions, the most important, perhaps, being the circumstances under which going to war are justifiable. Views on the law of war vary greatly. Some believe non-violence is the only acceptable approach, while others believe preventive war is justified. In this paper, we will examine and discuss several philosophers and their ideologies pertaining to war. We will begin with St. Thomas Aquinas. According to St.Thomas Aquinas, three conditions must be fulfilled in order to wage war. The first condition states “the party waging war must be a legitimate government.” (Bonevac p.427) Aquinas believes only the supreme authority should
His beliefs were chiefly based on natural law. He believed anything repugnant to natural law, or the nature of a social being, to be considered an act of injustice. There are two inquiries into the lawfulness of war. The first inquiry says that the preservation of our lives and possession or acquirement of things necessary to sustain it, agrees with natural law. The second inquiry states that not all force is prohibited, unless it deprives another of his rights. Grotius also holds that it is a right provided by nature, to repel force by force and the instinct to defend ourselves is innate. Therefore, whatever actions one takes to defend himself, he is justified in doing
Usually crimes of this sort apply to terrorist organizations and rogue nations. In such cases, preventive war is the only effective approach to inhibit their attacks. Therefore, those plotting an attack can be punished on the basis of intent. Since the evidence in these cases are less substantial, it is important to consider probabilities instead of certainties. Furthermore, the degree of certainty has been drastically reduced due to the increase of destructive weaponry. Due to this, Becker believes that the luxury of waiting to be attacked no longer exists, and preventive war is therefore