Thomas Aquinas on War and PeaceInquiring 'whether any war can be just', Thomas Aquinas famously responded that this may hold true, provided the war is conducted by a legitimate authority, for a just cause, and with an upright intention. Virtually all accounts of just war, from the Middle Ages to the current day, make reference to this threefold formula. But due in large measure to its very succinctness, Aquinas's theory has prompted contrasting interpretations. This book sets the record straight by surveying the wide range of texts in his literary corpus that have bearing on peace and the ethics of war. Thereby emerges a coherent and nuanced picture of just war as set within his systematic moral theory. It is shown how Aquinas deftly combined elements from earlier authors, and how his teaching has fruitfully propelled inquiry on this important topic by his fellow scholastics, later legal theorists such as Grotius, and contemporary philosophers of just war. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Just War in a Typology of the Virtues | 13 |
Selected Topics | 111 |
The Moral Equality of Combatants | 223 |
St Thomas and the Doctrine of Bellum Iustum Today | 257 |
| 283 | |
| 291 | |
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Common terms and phrases
action Alexander of Hales applied Aquinas’s Aristotle armed attack Augustine battlefield belli ac pacis belligerent bellum iustum Cajetan canon canon law Catholic cause chapter charity Christian cited combatants contemporary contrast courage culpable death discussion Disputatio de bello doctrine enemy Ethics evil force Francisco de Vitoria Gratian Grotius guerre juste Haggenmacher harm Hence human Ibid II-II injury instance intention International Law iure belli ac ius ad bellum Jacques Maritain James Turner Johnson justice justified later legitimate authority licit martyrdom medieval Molina moral equality nations normative offensive one’s Oxford Pagden and Lawrance passage peace Pereña political Pope Pope Pius XII praeter intentionem prince prudentia punishment Quaestio de bello Quaestio de homicidio question Raymond of Peñafort reason resort response scholastic self-defense soldiers STII-II Suárez Summa Summa theologiae Super teaching temporal term Thomas Aquinas Thomas’s tion translation treatment University Press unjust Vattel violence virtue virtuous Vitoria waged wrong wrongdoing