jonathan

Just War

PLEASE READ THE FINE PRINT

Introduction

The term just war [justum bellum or iustum bellum] refers to both a kind of deliberative moral doctrine and corresponding ethical theory/s to justify the doctrine itself. In both cases, however, the term can be ambiguous, insofar as one does not distinguish its related normative and descriptive functions. Take care to distinguish these. It is especially important to also distinguish using the doctrine to make standardized judgements about the justice of undertaking a particular war [jus ad bellum or ius ad bellum] and the rules that should govern the conduct of a war [jus in bello or ius in bello] once the conflict begins. Hence one can make a four-fold and cross-cutting distinction between a justifiable war and one that is not, on the one hand, and justifiable [or not!] conduct of a war, on the other. And so there can be justifiable wars, according to the theory/s, that are conducted justly or not and unjustifiable wars that are conducted justly or not.

Accordingly it is not always a straightforward matter to say that a war is immoral [or not]! Better to ask if the potential or actual war itself is permissible or not [or even obligatory or not!] and then go on to ask of particular warfare strategies & tactics if they are, in turn, permissible or not [or even obligatory or not!].

Furthermore you can and should ask whether or not the articulation or exposition and rational justification of a just war doctrine or a just war theory is cogent, especially with respect to more general ethical theories, e.g., utilitarianism(s), deontology(s), natural law morality(s), virtue morality(s), etc.

SEARCH SITES & WEB DIRECTORIES

Using lower case characters, search on the exact phrases - just war; just war doctrine; just war theory.

You can usually do this directly by placing "double quotes" around each exact phrase in the search window. Make sure you leave a space between each search term. If this does not work, follow the search site's Advanced Search directions.

Advice: Open each "hit" in a new window using the right click button on your pointer. That way you can compare sources side-by-side. It's not very efficient to be "clicking" back-&-forth.

Use Google

Next do a more focused search using the topic phrase/s in various combinations with the following [lower case] exact phrases & single words.

Using the Advanced Search function, also try searching on the .edu and .ac domains; these will get you to academic sites, which are usually rich resources. Note: While the .edu domian designation can be used alone, the .ac domain designation must be used in combination with a nation domain designation, as in .ac.uk (united kingdom) or .ac.au (australia).

Finally: Using the Advanced Search function, do searches for .pdf / .doc / .rtf files. These will often net you substantial essays & extensive class notes. Of course, the FINE PRINT caveats especially apply here.

Descriptive & Normative Terms

justum bellum

jus ad bellum

jus ad bellem

jus in bello

ius ad bellum

ius ad bellem

ius in bello

judaism

christianity

islam

buddhism

hinduism

rule of law

international law

rules of engagement

geneva convention

hague convention

noncombatants

noncombatant immunity

moral framework

ethical theory

normative ethics

descriptive ethics

consequentialism

act utilitarianism

rule utilitarianism

deontology

deontological ethics

categorical imperative

virtue ethics

feminist ethics

care ethics

moral deliberation

double effect

excusing conditions

modern warfare

draft

universal military service

compulsory military service

pacifism

quakers

mennonites

guerilla warfare

terrorism

war crime

collective responsibility

individual responsibility

weapons of mass destruction

Thinkers

aristotle

augustine

aquinas

gratium

decretists

decretalists

francisco de vitoria

francisco suarez

hugo grotius

samuel pufendorf

christian wolff

emerich de vattel

immanuel kant

reinhold niebhur

paul tillich

paul ramsey

john rawls

michael walzer

barrie paskins

michael dockrill

richard norman

thomas nagel

elizabeth anscombe

jean bethke elshtain

james turner johnson

Selected Cases & Examples

iraq

palestinians

kosovo

racak massacre

vietnam

my lai

william calley

cambodia

dresden

the blitz

oradour

oradour-sur-glane

warsaw ghetto

babi yar

nuremburg

nuremburg tribunal

pearl harbor

nagasaki

hiroshima

crusades

Further Research

bibliography

references

reading list

Now: Think! What other exact phrases and/or single words will, in combination with the topic phrase, help to narrow your search?

Finally: Learn to articulate relationships among/between your findings using one or more concept maps; think of each such mapping as a provisional framework within which you lay out pertinent facts, principles, & hypotheses about both the justification of just war doctrine & theory and the relevance of particular test cases or examples. See the following Google Directory for on-line resources on concept mapping:

Concept Mapping

Google Directories

Google Web Directory

>>Religion & Spirituality - Morality

>>Christian Denominations [See Social Justice & Ethics]

>>Philosophy - Ethics

Other Search Engines

HotBot

All The Web

Meme Central

Other Web Directories

DMOZ Open Web Directory