Just War

Is there ever a time when a war is considered just?

Thomas Aquinas’s Just War Theory It must be declared by a legitimate authority, not by private groups or individuals It must be waged for a just cause like protecting innocent life or preserving conditions necessary for basic human life. It must be waged with the right intention, not for vengeance, cruelty or power.

A few more… The war must be a last resort; all other avenues to bring peace must have been tried. The means used to win the war must be moral. The suffering and damage caused by the war must be proportionate to the good to be accomplished. There must be a reasonable chance of success. The terms for peace must be fair.

Why must there be limits, even in war? What are some of these limits?

Given the criteria for just war, is nuclear, or chemical warfare ever just?

Why would these weapons be considered no-win?

What does Jesus teach us about war?

Where does peace begin?

Where does the principle of loving your neighbor and doing good to your enemies fit into Aquinas’s argument?

If instead of saying for a war to be just, Aquinas had said for a war to be loving, what three conditions would Aquinas have made to create a loving-war theory? Is it possible to have a loving war?