just war theory

• just war theory

  set of principles outlining conditions when the use of violence would be acceptable
• justice of going to war

  jus ad bellum
• jus ad bellum

  1. proper authority

  2. just cause

  3. establish good/right intent

  4. reasonable chance of success

  5. last resort

  6. proportionality
• jus in bello

  1. proportionality

  2. civilians
• one - proper authority

  war should be declared by a proper authority eg a government/king
• two - just cause

  the war must be started for a good reason e.g. self defense and not because of greed
• three - establish good

  the war must be fought to establish good, or fight evil
• four - reasonable chance of success

  it should be possible to win the war
• five - last resort

  it must be a last resort, when everything else has been tried eg diplomacy
• six - proportionality

  hoped for benefits must be proportionate to the expected harm caused and the amount of force used must be only enough to succeed, no more
• seven - civilians

  no civilians should be involved, and no deliberate unnecessary cruelty
• jus ad bellum objection to just cause

  who decided whether or not a cause is just? in most wars, both sides believe their the just one
• objection to proper authority

  who decides that an authority is competent?
• objection to probability of success

  cannot be known at the start
• objection to last resort

  dubious, pacifists will use any means to avoid war
• objection to proportionality

  can we really be sure it's proportional? propaganda and lies
• jus in bello objection to civilians

  impossible to define whether or not civilians are involved
• nuclear weapons effects

  heat, blast, radiation. obviously chernobyl example in 1986, radioactive dust over 200,000km^2 of land
• chemical weapons effects

  injury, incapacitation or death. ww1, phosphene and mustard gas. phosphene responsible 85% of 100,000 deaths caused by chemical weapons
• biological weapons effects

  bacteria and viruses. insects used to carry pathogens. botulinum toxin spread through air or water and food. one gram can kill a million people
• all weapons lie outside of just war theory ...

  discrimination - weapons of mass destruction can never discriminate

  proportionality - the harm done can never be proportionate to the good aimed at as well as the ends desired

  probability of success - nuclear war is unwinnable, it sucks for everyone
• can just war theory justify it?

  most christians, no!! including the pope, who urged abolition of nukes

  some see it as unrealistic and unworkable. we cannot uninvented these and countries wont give them up. it would be suicidal for smaller nations to do so - best deterrent.

  abolition of nuclear weapons would merely return us to conventional weapons, which are getting just as deadly