Just War Theory raises some of the most pressing and important philosophical issues of our day. When is a war a just war, if ever? Do all soldiers in war have moral equivalence? What is the difference between combatants and non-combatants? This book brings together some of the most important essays in this area written by leading scholars and offering significant contributions to how we understand just war theory. The essays have all appeared in the Journal of Moral Philosophy, an internationally recognized leading philosophy journal.

This book provides a stimulating discussion of, and introduction to, just war theory.

In an age of conflict and ethical challenges, understanding warfare principles is essential. Just War Theory explores the ethical frameworks that define justified warfare, connecting historical insights with contemporary issues. This book provides a comprehensive understanding of warfare's moral dimensions. Chapters Overviews: 1: Just War Theory - Introduces the core concepts and historical evolution of Just War Theory. 2: Jurisprudence - Examines legal principles influencing Just War Theory and wartime conduct. 3: Natural Law - Explores the role of natural law in evaluating the morality of war. 4: Normative Ethics - Discusses ethical theories that inform the moral assessment of warfare. 5: Pacifism - Contrasts pacifism with Just War Theory, presenting alternative ethical perspectives. 6: Law of War - Analyzes regulations and ethical guidelines for wartime behavior. 7: Just Price - Investigates economic principles linked to ethical war judgments. 8: Principle of Double Effect - Explores unintended consequences and their role in wartime ethics. 9: Jus ad Bellum - Reviews the criteria justifying the initiation of war. 10: John Finnis - Highlights Finnis' contributions to contemporary war ethics. 11: Philosophy of War - Examines philosophical perspectives on war’s purpose and nature. 12: Christian Ethics - Discusses the impact of Christian ethics on Just War Theory. 13: Catholic Peace Traditions - Looks at Catholic views on war and peace through history. 14: Jus post Bellum - Discusses post-war justice and ethical reconstruction. 15: Thomas Aquinas - Reviews Aquinas' influence on ethical war considerations. 16: Just and Unjust Wars - Differentiates between morally legitimate and illegitimate conflicts. 17: Christianity and Violence - Investigates Christian teachings on the justification of violence. 18: Tranquillitas Ordinis - Explores the concept of order and peace in resolving conflicts. 19: Targeted Killings - Evaluates the ethics of targeted killings in modern warfare. 20: Supreme Emergency - Discusses extraordinary measures justified in crises. 21: Moral Equality of Combatants - Challenges traditional views of combatants' moral standing. Just War Theory is more than a scholarly exploration—it’s an essential guide for those seeking to understand the ethics behind warfare. Whether you're a student, professional, or political enthusiast, this book offers key insights into justifiable war principles that are critical to navigating today’s complex world.

Available Again! Long before the "shock and awe" campaign against Iraq in March 2003, debates swarmed around the justifications of the U.S.-led war to depose Saddam Hussein. While George W. Bush's administration declared a just war of necessity, opponents charged that it was a war of choice, and even opportunism. Behind the rhetoric lie vital questions: when is war just, and what means are acceptable even in the course of a just war? Originally published in 1991, in the wake of the first war against Iraq, Just War Theory explores this essential dilemma. With a new preface by the editor, the essays in this indispensable collection move beyond the theoretical origins of just war theory to examine issues faced by military strategists, politicians, social theorists, and anyone concerned with the provocations and costs of military action. Popular wisdom once claimed that notions of just war would become obsolete with the onset of "total warfare," characterized by attacks on civilians and undiscriminating weapons of mass destruction. While the last decade has been ripe with brutality, just war theory is more critical than ever to the future of international relations and public discourse. This readable collection is an invaluable introduction to the debate.

As the war in Iraq continues and Americans debate the consequences of the war in Afghanistan, the war on terror, and the possibility of war with North Korea and Iran, war is one of the biggest issues in public debate. Andrew Fiala in The Just War Myth challenges the apparently predominant American sentiment that war can be easily justified. Even most Democrats seem to hold that opinion, despite the horrific costs of war both on the people being attacked or caught up in the chaos and on the Americans involved in carrying out the war. The Just War Myth argues that while the just war theory is a good theory, actual wars do not live up to its standards. The book provides a genealogy of the just war idea and also turns a critical eye on current events, including the idea of preemptive war, the use of torture, and the unreality of the Bush Doctrine. Fiala warns that pacifism, too, can become mythological, advocating skepticism about attempts to justify war.

This work constitutes a full analysis of Just War Theory in each of its aspects, representing a complete exposition of the corpus of International Law, Jus ad Bellum, and exploring Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflict, Jus in Bello. This comprises the rules that should govern armed conflict, and is called humanitarian precisely because it aims at safeguarding humanitarian values and human rights in times of war. Consequently, this book covers the Law of War in its entirety, both the Jus ad Bellum category – justifications of war – as well as the Jus in Bello category. Extensively analyzed are the following aspects of the use of military force: Self-Defense in International Law, Humanitarian Intervention, National Liberation Wars, Pro-democracy intervention, United Nations Peacekeeping and Peace-enforcement action, Nuclear Weapons, Law of Armed Conflict - International Humanitarian Law, Illegal Use of Force and Statehood.

This book offers a systematic critique of recent interventionist just war theories, which have made the recourse to force easier to justify. The work argues that these theories, including neo-traditionalist prerogatives to national leaders and a cosmopolitan human rights paradigm, offer criteria for war that are insufficient in principle and dangerous in practice. Drawing on a plurality of moral considerations, the book recommends a modified legalist national defense paradigm, which includes an atrocity threshold for humanitarian intervention and a legitimate authorization requirement. The plausibility of this restrictive framework is applied to case studies, including the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, ongoing targeted killing, and possible interventions in Syria and elsewhere. Various arguments which seek to loosen the criteria for war are also systematically analyzed and criticized. This book will be of much interest to students of just war theory, military history, ethics, political philosophy, and international relations.

This book addresses the inadequacies of just war theory and international law regarding civilian rights, developing new principles of individual restorative justice.

Contributions to Illuminations: A Scarecrow Press Series of Guides to Research in Religion provide students and scholars, lay readers and clergy, with a road map to research in key areas of religious study. All commonly constructed with introductions to the topic and reviews of key thinkers, concepts, and events, each volume includes surveys of the primary and secondary sources, with critical evaluations of their places in the canon of thought and research on the topic. Focusing primarily on the knowledge required by today’s students and scholars, each guide is a must-have for any student of religion. The twentieth century saw an explosion of wars and an accompanying explosion of literature on the morality of war. Thinking among Christian clerics and scholars on the idea of “just war” shifted with developments on the battlefield. Alternatives to just war theory, such as pacifism and realism, found new proponents in the published work of the neo-Anabaptists and Niebhurians. Meanwhile, proponents of Christian just war theory had to address challenges from competing ideologies as well as ththose presented by the changing nature of warfare. Modern Just War Theory: A Guide to Research, by scholar and librarian Michael Farrell, serves as a manual for students and scholars studying Christian just war theory, helping them navigate the wealth of just war literature produced in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Farrell’s guide provides an introduction to the major developments of just war theory in the twentieth century, including sections on how to research just war theory, an overview of some of the most important theorists and developments of the twentieth century, and discussions of key search terms and related topics. Farrell then surveys and evaluates key primary and secondary sources for researchers on just war theory, as well as related sources on Christian realism and the responses of just war theorists to proponents of pacifism and secular just war theories. Modern Just War Theory will appeal to students and scholars of theology, military history, international law, and Christian ethics

Widespread cross-cultural and cross-ideological agreement on the justifiable limits of war has become an increasingly complex yet vital element of global peace and conflict policies. Luís Cordeiro-Rodrigues and Danny Singh bring together a truly international cohort of philosophers, ethicists, political scientists, criminologists, sociologists, and other scholars to address the morality of war from a comparative perspective. While conceptions of when to enter war (jus ad bellum) and how to fight war (jus in bello) have been well researched in Western liberal contexts, non-Western philosophies have been largely excluded from debate. This volume seeks to correct that imbalance by addressing concrete examples alongside concepts of Confucian Yi/Rightness, Ahimsa, feminism, class struggles, Ubuntu, anarchism, pacifism, Buddhism, Islam, Jihad, among others. Comparative Just War Theory provides a global conceptual framework to deal with the morality of war in our modern world. With fresh insights into how the normative problems that arise from just war can be addressed, the book will be a valuable resource for a wide variety of students, scholars, and policymakers.