War and Violence
Violence as a Process
Definitive of the “State”
• Distinction between “jus ad bellum” – justice of
war and “jus in bello” – justice in war
• Violence and the state
– Legal monopoly on coercive power
– Legal right to take life
• Are there limits on violence state can legitimately
employ?
Pope John Paul II calls War a Defeat for Humanity:
Neoconservative Iraq Just War Theories Rejected
“In the weeks and months before the U.S. attacked Iraq, not
only the Holy Father [John Paul II], but also one Cardinal
and Archbishop after another at the Vatican spoke out
against a "preemptive" or "preventive" strike. They declared
that the just war theory could not justify such a war.”
Houston Catholic Worker
Conceptualizing the
Problem of War
• War as a “duel” with definable “rules
of the game”
– World War I “flying aces”
– Sunset convention/ “white flag”
– Rules of naval engagement
• “Total war”
– “All’s fair in love and war”
– “War is hell” Sherman
The Amoral “Realist” Claim
• Acheson -- “moral talk did not bear on the
problem.”
• Doctrine of “military necessity”
• War as self preservation; but need to restore
order -- “war to end all wars.”
• The problem of amoral realists relying on
morality for their argument.
• Essence of being human making significant
ethical distinctions (Rawls)
The Question of “jus in bello”
• The “Rules of Engagement”:
– Soldiers responsible for conduct of war, not war
– “reach of battle” -- legitimate war deaths versus
murder/massacre
• Combatant/non-combatant distinction
– Soldier; solitary soldier; naked soldier; munitions
workers; sleeping uniform makers; farmers?
– Right not to be attacked?
– “Well ordered” versus “outlaw” state
• Should non-combatants never be killed?
The “Doctrine of Double Effect”
• Killing of non-combatants permissible
under some circumstances:
– Direct good effect must be morally
legitimate
– Principle of proportionality must be
maintained
– Indirect effect -- death of non-combatants -must be unintended
• Walzer’s revision: risks (due care) must
be taken
When Can the Rules of War
be Overridden?
• “Supreme emergency:”
“Our task is not only to win the battle - but to win the war. After this
battle in France abates its force, there will come the battle for our
Island -- for all that Britain is, and all that Britain means. That will
be the struggle. In that supreme emergency we shall not hesitate
to take every step, even the most drastic, to call forth from our
people the last ounce and the last inch of effort of which they are
capable. The interests of property, the hours of labor, are nothing
compared with the struggle of life and honor, for right and freedom,
to which we have vowed ourselves.” Winston Churchill, 19 May
1940
(Emphasis added)
Supreme Emergency
• Imminent, serious: way of life at threat
– Justifies bombing German cities
• Bombing of Dresden
(Vonnegut’s
Slaughterhouse
-Five)
• “Terrorist” bombings