Just War Theory

I shudder to even utter the phrase, but I do acknowledge there are instances where a moral case can be made for a military response. Thanks to the folks at JustWarTheory.com for summing it up nicely and pointing to these principles which do a good job at constraining the cases for war so tightly that even most pacifists will be appeased. Many just war theorists list the last resort clause at the end, but here it is brought to its proper position.

--A just war can only be waged as a last resort. All non-violent options must be exhausted before the use of force can be justified.

--A war is just only if it is waged by a legitimate authority. Even just causes cannot be served by actions taken by individuals or groups who do not constitute an authority sanctioned by whatever the society and outsiders to the society deem legitimate.

--A just war can only be fought to redress a wrong suffered. For example, self-defense against an armed attack is always considered to be a just cause (although the justice of the cause is not sufficient--see point #4). Further, a just war can only be fought with "right" intentions: the only permissible objective of a just war is to redress the injury.

--A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success. Deaths and injury incurred in a hopeless cause are not morally justifiable.

--The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace. More specifically, the peace established after the war must be preferable to the peace that would have prevailed if the war had not been fought.

--The violence used in the war must be proportional to the injury suffered. States are prohibited from using force not necessary to attain the limited objective of addressing the injury suffered.

--The weapons used in war must discriminate between combatants and non-combatants. Civilians are never permissible targets of war, and every effort must be taken to avoid killing civilians. The deaths of civilians are justified only if they are unavoidable victims of a deliberate attack on a military target.

Via Political Site of the Day via Mad Kane.