War And Peace Flashcards
Who first formulated the theory?
St. Augustine of Hippo (4th century)
Why was the ‘war and peace’ theory created ?
Because the early Christians needed to defend the Roman Empire due to the reformation to Christianity. Therefore they needed to somehow justify war.
Who was the first philosopher to develop the theory?
Thomas Aquinas (13th century)
Strengths (3)
- fits in with common views of justice
- realistic as it recognises the need for force
- outlaws war except in defence or upholding important values
Weaknesses (4)
- allowing law can encourage it
- contradicts Jesus’s teachings of peace!
- the criteria can be manipulated & may be subjective (1939 Germany faked Polish attacks to justify invasion)
- Aquinas contradicts himself, in his ‘natural moral law’ he says that life is sacred…yet he allows killing in warfare.
What is pacifism?
Generally speaking it is the view that violence is wrong under any circumstances.
What did Richard Reagan say?
To say that killing is okay on a national scale (war) is a contradiction to the absolutist view of the sanctity of life argument. There are no exceptions to absolutists views.
What did Reinhold Neibhur say/do?
He formulated ‘Christian realism’ which is the view that all humans have a genetic predisposition to commit evil acts and therefore the government must interfere and use violence to restrain it.
Eg. Hitler in the 2nd world war needed to be restrained to help others.
What did Walter Wink say/do?
He said that it is very possible to be an active and even aggressive pacifist. Pacifism doesn’t mean “passive”.
EG. MLK peaceful protest on Washington AND Ghandi
What are the 4 different types of pacifism?
Pragmatic
Religious
Relative
Principle
What is pragmatic pacifism?
The practical view that war is wrong because it doesn’t work as well.
Peaceful approaches should always be 1st resort.
-Walter Wink
- EG- Gandhi and MLK (Washington)
What is principle pacifism?
The absolutist and deontological view that violence is always and under every circumstance wrong.
People have moral duties to preserve life
- SANCTITY OF LIFE argument- life is of unique and intrinsic value and we must strive to preserve it.
- Richard Raegan - to say that on a national scale killing is ok is a contradiction. There should be no exceptions to an absolutist view.
What is religious pacifism?
Pacifists who follow the bible teachings and Jesus’ non-violent way of life.
- Quakers, Mennonites,Brethren
- “he who takes the sword shall perish by the sword” - Matthew 26
- “thou shalt not kill” - exodus 20
- “we totally oppose all wars, all preparation for war, all use of weapons and coercion by force, and all military alliances” - Quakers
What is relative pacifism?
The view that peaceful approaches should be 1st resort.
No absolute objection to war/violence.
War is sometimes allowed (rarely) however is still wrong even if it is the lesser of two evils.
