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An Introduction to Political Philosophy: critical
contemplation in the run up to the election.
David Carpenter
University Ethics Adviser
Principal Lecturer in Social and Political
Philosophy
Just War theory: from St
Augustine to today 'Boots on the
ground'?
Session 5: May 6th2015
(354-430 AD)
Two cities have been formed by
two loves: the earthly by the
love of self, even to the
contempt of God; the heavenly
by the love of God, even to the
contempt of self
(De Civitate Dei XIV. 28)
Augustine presents the four essential elements of his philosophy in The City of God: the church, the state,
the City of Heaven, and the City of the World. The church is divinely established and leads humankind to
eternal goodness, which is God. The state adheres to the virtues of politics and of the mind, formulating a
political community. Both of these societies are visible and seek to do good. Mirroring these are two invisible
societies: the City of Heaven, for those predestined for salvation, and the City of the World, for those given
eternal damnation.
This grand design allows Augustine to elaborate his theory of justice, which he says issues from the proper
and just sharing of those things necessary for life, just as God freely distributes air, water, and light.
Humankind must therefore pursue the City of Heaven to maintain a proper sense of order, which in turn
leads to true peace.
In effect, The City of God is a challenge to human society to choose which city it wishes to be a part of, and
Augustine sees his task as clearly marking out the parameters of each choice. Augustine concludes that the
purpose of history is to show the unfolding of God’s plan, which involves fostering the City of Heaven and
filling it with worthy citizens. For this purpose, God initiated all of creation itself. In such a grand plan, the fall of
Rome is insignificant.
SparkNotes Editors. (2005). SparkNote on Saint Augustine (A.D. 354–430). Retrieved October 2, 2012, from http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/augustine/
Just War Augustine
• Augustine was the originator of the term – used in The
City of God
• Fundamentally peace loving – essentially a pacifist
• Some violence might be justified if well motivated
• May allow lesser evils to permit greater ones
• Laws should require soldiers to fight – not merely permit
it
• Establishes the basic ideas of jus ad bellum and Jus in
bello
Just War Theory - Augustine
• The only desirable end of war is peace
• Recognised that a Christian could take up the sword in certain
circumstances but not to defend themselves
• Recognised that there might be situations in which it would be sinful not to
wage war – defence might be a necessity but war, in itself, is always sinful
• War is the result of sin – but is might b justified if it is a remedy for sin
• Injustice is a greater evil than war – a lesser evil can be carried out to
prevent a greater one
• For him, physical death was not too important
We do not seek peace in order to be at
war, but we go to war that we may have
peace. Be peaceful, therefore, in warring,
so that you may vanquish those whom
you war against, and bring them to the
prosperity of peace.
Augustine
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/war/just/history.shtml
True religion looks upon as peaceful
those wars that are waged not for
motives of aggrandisement, or cruelty,
but with the object of securing peace,
of punishing evil-doers, and of uplifting
the good.
Augustine
January 28, 1225 - March 7, 1274
Just War Theory – Thomas Aquinas
• Thomas Aquinas built on Augustine’s work in
Summa Theologica
• http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3040.htm
Conditions of Just War
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Just cause
Legitimate authority
Probability of success
Last resort
Benefits must exceed evils
Civilians must not be targeted
Force must be proportional and minimal
Conflict should cease as soon as possible and normal
relations restored
Immanuel Kant 1724- 1804
Relationships with others
Duties
Justice
Respect
Nature of the individual
Freedom
Rationality
Instinct
Perfectibility
Relationships between states
Respect for each others rights
Just War
Jus ad bellum
Jus in bello
Jus post bellum
Role of the State
Upholding duties
Developing rights
From individual rights and
duties to state rights and
duties
League of nations
PERPETUAL PEACE
Thus, in the external sphere of interpersonal interaction, rational agency
requires protection. But how to protect agency from such force and fraud in
an effective and broadly based manner? Kant’s answer is a public, universal
system of positive law and order which can employ coercion on behalf of
rational agency against those rogue parties that threaten it. Justice is thus, for
Kant, the authorization to use coercion in defence of anyone’s, indeed
everyone’s, free rational agency. Kant’s universal principle of Recht, or justice
(UPJ), is thus: ‘Act externally in such a way that the free use of your will is
compatible with the freedom of everyone according to a universal law.’
(Orend, 2000, p21).
State Rights
SR 1. The right of negative freedom from force and fraud in
the international state of nature.
SR 2. The right of positive freedom to self-governance within
a global juridical condition. This is the right of political
sovereignty.
SR 3. The right to employ and dispose of one’s natural
resources as one sees fit, provided such use does not
violate the rights of other states.
SR 4. The right of property in one’s territory. This is the right
of territorial integrity.
SR 5. The right to enter into lawful contractual relations with
other states at one’s will.
State Duties
SD 1. Do not employ force and fraud in one’s relations with
other states.
SD 2. Do not interfere in the internal matters, or selfgovernance, of another state.
SD 3. Do not invade or capture the rightful property or
territory of another state.
SD 4. Do not break lawful contractual agreements one has
freely made with other states.
SD 5. Allow for basic contact and relations
Perpetual Peace – Essential criteria
• no treaty should be made which contains the
seeds of further conflict **
• the independence of states should be respected
– sovereigns should not attempt to partition
them, cede them or claim them by inheritance
• standing armies should be abolished
• national debts should not be contracted for the
sake of building up armaments or extending
external influence
Perpetual Peace – Essential criteria –
(Cont)
• no state should by force interfere with the
political affairs of another **
• nothing should be done in war which will
make a satisfactory peace difficult or
impossible **
** Demand prompt execution
League of nations
• Only republics can satisfy requirements
• States as juridical persons
• Consent of citizens for war (makes it far
less likely)
• States can enter Hobbesian style contract
World Citizen
• Guaranteed entitlement
– Not to be treated as enemies
– Not to be enslaved
– Not to be exploited
Perpetual peace based on moral respect
for individuals and national societies –
secured when all states become republics
and join the league
Michael Walzer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcBovmGZSPU&featur
e=related
Christian faith and political activity – para 9
Some of this resurgent religion has been harmful. It is a mistake to
imagine that all manifestations of religion are essentially similar or
always benign. But the challenge to politicians is to understand how
faith can shape communities, nations and individuals for the good. The
answer to “furious religion” (that is, the religious impulse turned in on
itself or used to justify oppression and conflict) is not to marginalise
religion in general or see religious faith as some kind of problem. It is
to acknowledge that religious commitment is extraordinarily
widespread and that people of faith within all the historic traditions
have much to offer to a vision of a good society and a peaceful world.
A Christian world-view paras 16-17
Christians believe that God alone is Lord of creation and our
allegiance to any other system or power is only possible so long
as it makes no claims which compromise our allegiance to God.
Christians should be wary of accumulations of power wherever
they take place. They should be as reluctant to live under an
overweening corporate sector as under an overweening state.
Where the state or the market, or any other powers, claim too
much and stifle human flourishing, people are divided from one
another and God’s sovereignty is mocked.
Cont.
“Put not your trust in princes”, says the Psalmist (Ps.146). The
prophets speak out against traders who seek only profit and
upset the rhythms of community life by their greed (Amos 8).
Jesus is harsh towards leaders (including religious leaders) who
seek power and privilege and neglect justice and mercy for
others (Matthew 23). The Biblical tradition is not only “biased to
the poor”, as often noted, but warns constantly against too
much power falling into too few hands. When it does, human
sympathies are strained to breaking point.
The community of nations paras 65 & 67
Like the relationships of persons in community, relationships between
nations and peoples are shaped by more than economic interests
alone. Good relationships take into account the power of history and
the history of power. The enduring memories of old wrongs, and the
affinities that come from shared experiences and cultures can make or
break today’s international relations. Global power is as unevenly
distributed as global wealth and yet good international relations require
all nations to recognise their interdependence if the world is to remain
stable or even to survive.
All rather Kantian
Cont.
After the Second World War, the nations of Europe sought to rebuild
for prosperity through a shared determination that never again would
global neighbours resort to mass slaughter. The differences between
the peoples of Europe, which had loomed so large in war, seemed
insignificant when people recollected how extensively they shared a
history, culture and, not least, the traditions and world views of the
Christian faith. English churchmen worked tirelessly to promote
understanding and cooperation between the European churches and
to encourage the political institutions of the European nations to work
for the common good and focus on what they shared, not what divided
them.
The community of nations paras 70-73
Military intervention by states such as Britain is not always
wrong. But recent experiences, especially in Iraq and
Afghanistan, show the difficulty of treading a line between
legitimate defence of human values and interventions which
further destabilise regions already devastated by conflict.
We have discovered how acute is the risk of generating
new resentments which intensify the threat to our own way
of life.
Cont.
The decision to commit troops to war is one of the hardest which any
politician has to take and those who bear that responsibility deserve
our constant prayers. And the nation should value and pray for military
personnel who know that their lives depend on the wisdom and
judgement of politicians. But our support should not be offered blindly.
Our politicians have been reluctant to talk openly with the electorate
about Britain’s relationships around the world, the realignments of
global power, a realistic role in securing a stable and peaceful world
order and the tools we would need for the job. In short, we should
reflect more deeply on Britain’s role in generating an international
community of communities.
Cont.
The sheer scale of indiscriminate destructive power represented by nuclear
weapons such as Trident was only justifiable, if at all, by appeal to the
principle of mutually assured destruction. For many, including many
Christians, that in itself was a deeply problematic argument, although there
were also many who were prepared to live with the strategy because it
appeared to secure peace and save lives. Shifts in the global strategic
realities mean that the traditional arguments for nuclear deterrence need reexamining. The presence of such destructive capacity pulls against any
international sense of shared community. But such is the talismanic power of
nuclear weaponry that few politicians seem willing to trust the electorate with
a real debate about the military capacity we need in the world of today
Cont.
• Reconciliation between divided peoples is at the heart of
a Christian commitment to the world, just as it is the key
to our understandings of community and society. People
and nations are divided, not just by military conflict but by
grotesque inequalities of wealth and power. The
accumulation of wealth and power in the hands of a few
nations has a profoundly destabilising effect.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/manifesto-guide
Conservative
Main pledges
•Second new aircraft carrier will be brought into
active service
•Replace Trident with four submarines to
maintain continuous at sea nuclear deterrent
•Work for peace in Syria and Iraq and pursue a
comprehensive strategy to defeat Islamic State
•Create new award for service in the reserve
forces
Labour
Main pledges
•A "minimum, credible, independent nuclear deterrent"
based on continuous patrols
•Strategic Security and Defence Review
•Make it illegal to discriminate against or abuse
members of the Armed Forces
•International LGBT Rights Envoy and a Global Envoy
for Religious Freedom
“Yet, at this time of great peril, I deeply regret that the British Government seems to be stepping back, rather than
stepping up,” writes Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander in The Sunday Telegraph, as he juxtaposed the
“no room at the inn” of the Nativity with the horrors being meted out on Christians in Nigeria, Syria, Iraq and Sudan.
“Just like anti-Semitism or Islamaphobia, anti-Christian persecution must be named for the evil that it is, and
challenged systematically by people of faith and of no faith,” he exhorted.
Lib Dems
Main pledges
•End continuous at sea nuclear deterrent, enabling a cut in
the number of submarines
•Ban arms exports to countries flagged up by the FCO’s
human rights report
•Help service personnel and veterans with mental health
problems
•Integrate defence and security spending
UKIP
Main pledges
•Meet Nato target of spending 2% of GDP on defence,
and look to increase it “substantially”
•Create a Veterans Department to look after the
interests of ex-service men and women
•Keep Britain’s nuclear deterrent
•Cut foreign aid from 0.7% to 0.2% of national income
Green
Main pledges
•Make securing a global agreement on climate change the
main foreign policy priority
•Scrap all the UK's nuclear weapons
•Increase overseas aid to 1% of GDP within 5 years