Just war and the question of authority

Braun, Christian Nikolaus

Abstract

This article assesses the recently renewed interest in the just war criterion of sovereign authority from a Thomistic perspective. It contrasts the classical conceptualisation of authority as found in the work of St Thomas Aquinas with the argument made by today’s revisionist just war thinkers. The article points out that the two approaches start from fundamentally different units of moral analysis. While the Thomistic just war emphasises the common good of the political community revisionists advocate the perspective of moral individualism. As a result, for Thomism, only those entrusted with the responsibility for the common good of the political community are entitled to wage war while, in contrast, revisionists argue that any individual has the right to wage war. The latter side’s position, the article criticises, is problematic from a moral point of view as it runs counter to the just war tradition’s concern about restraint in the employment of force.

Citation

Braun, C. N. (2018). Just war and the question of authority. Zeitschrift für Ethik und Moralphilosophie, 1(2), 221-236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42048-018-0024-x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Dec 6, 2018
• Publication Date: Oct 31, 2018
• Deposit Date: Dec 7, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 7, 2018
• Journal: Zeitschrift für Ethik und Moralphilosophie = Journal for Ethics and Moral Philosophy
• Print ISSN: 2522-0063
• Electronic ISSN: 2522-0071
• Publisher: Springer
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 1
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 221-236
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42048-018-0024-x