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they have the obligation to maintain peace. This obligation gives them the right to
wage war. He says, "'The natural order conducive to peace among mortals demands
that the power to declare and counsel war should be in the hands of those who hold the
supreme authority.'"(3) Those subject to the rulers must obey unless they command
something against a Divine Law. For St. Augustine the only reason for waging a war
would be to defend the nation's peace against serious injury. He says, "'A just war is
wont to be described as one that avenges wrongs, when a nation or state has to be
punished, for refusing to make amends for the wrongs inflicted by its subjects, or to
restore what it has seized unjustly.'"(4) The intention of the war is very important for
St. Augustine. He says, "'The passion for inflicting harm, the cruel thirst for
vengeance, an unpacific and relentless spirit, the fever of revolt, the lust of power, and
such things, all these are rightly condemned in war.'"(5) St. Augustine emphasizes the
idea of restoration of peace as the main motive of war. He says, "'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.'"(6) So in St. Augustine's thinking a war "was
limited by its purpose, its authority and its conduct."(7)
Further Developments - St. Thomas Aquinas and the Middle Ages
A great impetus to the Just War Theory was St. Thomas Aquinas. He emphasized St.
Augustine's statements about war and added a little to them. He followed a similar
reasoning breaking up his argument into three necessary conditions for a just war:
authorized authority, just cause and rightful intention. In speaking about who
authorizes war St. Thomas emphasizes that the sovereign has the responsibility for the
common good of those committed to his care. Only he can declare war. Moreover the
sovereign has the lawful right of recourse to "the sword" to defend his people against
internal strife by punishing those who do evil, justified by St. Paul in verse 4 of
chapter 13 in the letter to the Romans. Therefore it is his duty to defend the common
good against external enemies by having recourse to arms. A just cause is required to
wage war. St. Thomas considers such a cause to be "that those who are attacked,
should be attacked because they deserve it on account of some fault."(8) Finally St.
Thomas discusses the right intention for waging war. Only two possibilities are
presented: either the furthering of some good or an avoidance of some evil. The
underpinnings of his arguments and most important contribution to St. Augustine's
theory "would appear to consist in his stress on the natural law."(9)
The Middle Ages were occupied mostly with the right to wage war and restoring peace
through mercy and justice. After St. Thomas other authors on a just war such as St.
Ramon of Penafort just elaborated on his position. They mainly concentrated on
specifying the proper authority, just causes and intentions of St. Thomas.
A Fully Developed Theory
Although St. Augustine introduced the idea of a just war and the Middle Ages
furthered its cause, it was not until the 16th and 17th centuries that a complete theory,
which included the proper waging of a war, was established. Two names of
importance regarding this development are Vitoria and Suarez. Fr. Conway, S.J., has
synthesized their teaching. Hostilities are divided into two classes: an armed attack
against a peaceful society and injurious actions taken against the same (generally
defined as an infringement of a right). The first class from which an armed response
resulted would be considered as a defensive war. This type of war was distinguished
from the second class hostility. An armed response to an injurious action was
considered an offensive or aggressive war. According to Vitoria and Suarez a
defensive war needed "no special moral justification."(10) They saw an armed
response as an involuntary act forced upon a nation. On the other hand, the aggressive
war needed to be justified. An injurious action done does not involve destruction and
death so how was it possible for the Christian willfully to choose war as a response?
The problem for them arose from the conflict between a Christian wanting love and
peace but responding with death and destruction. So they proposed conditions under
which a Christian could respond to injurious action while preserving Christian values.
So for them the just war conditions only apply to aggressive wars. The three
conditions of St. Thomas are retained by them in their theory. But they added two
more: the war must be fought as a last resort and in a proper manner (without killing
the innocent).
Following the conditions outlined above moral theologians have tried to define them
more explicitly. Regarding an injurious act it was taught that "only an injury so grave
that it outweighs the risks and losses of war is a justification for making war"
following the principle of double effect.(11) If such a weighty injury does not exist
then in charity one would have to tolerate the injustice. What are sufficient causes for [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]