Ethics Of War

For centuries, people have lived under the influence of religion, believing in person or people greater than themselves. Religion can be found in all corners of the world, America, Europe, Arabia, and everywhere else. How it got there, may be a much darker story though. War has been at the basis of all human life, guiding us to a dark place filled with fear and death. We see it as the only means to an end, and we have repeated this cycle for as long as we have been alive. Many religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, and Muslim, are not justified for starting holy wars, reminding us that people will believe that anything is right if it is under God’s name. Records of God’s words state it is wrong to kill, millions of people were killed, and

A war that is justified is still a war, and no one wants to be in that kind of hell. The idea that the only way to win is to be the best at killing people so you can stop killing people and go home, is a way to survive. However, the rules keep changing and you are still there,

“Courage isn’t a matter of is or is not; it’s about being afraid and doing what has to be done in spite of it” (Jon Pertwee). War is always hard, no one wants it and many people try to avoid it. No one wants to see their kids die, or for them to see people they know very well, even love, burn. No one wants to bury their kid or their husband, father, wife, mother, or anyone. War in itself, is needed. War is profitable to the winning side, war reparations and the payments made to soldiers help the economy. War can also defend the natural human rights. It also bring people who would have never otherwise of talked become the closest friends. War also helps with the countries understanding of any scientific field. War is controversial but it can

War is sometimes very necessary to ensure the safety of American civilians. It is occasionally very important that Americans fight for their independence along with supporting allied nations. There is extreme importance in helping allied nations when they go to war. If Americans do not support their allies when they need help their allies will not stand behind America when it is in trouble. One extremely supported reason to go to war is when there is an act of terrorism. This is when

To understand war we must look at Just War Theory. The purpose of Just War Theory is to provide a model for states to behave when and

When we think about the primary reasons for war today, the most common reasons are for war are defending against attack, political control or wealth, recapturing lost items or people, or punishing those who have done wrong. We tend to assume religion is not the main cause of war - according to the Encyclopedia of Wars (Phillips and Axelrod), of the 1,763 major conflicts in recorded history, only 123 of them can be classified as having been fought over religious differences. That’s less than 7 percent.

Lastly, there is the defensive war. Which may be one of the most frequently used causes of war in the last 100 years, especially in the U.S., who used it to participate in wars such as World War II, Vietnam, and Afghanistan. By definition, it is a direct retaliation against country for invading its borders or territories. This is the most just types of war (as the defending country), as you did not start the aggression, but are merely getting back for what you lost.

​Throughout the history of mankind war has evolved with major technological advancements, yet the reasons of why we go to war have never changed. There are various reasons, factors, and circumstances as to why we go to war. Some of the more sensible ways of reasoning as to why we go to war are the psychological and emotional methodologies. This paper will explain three specific factors, which are schemas, heuristics, and belief systems regarding the psychological and emotional approaches to studying the causes of war.

There has always been a great debate when to have a war. Many individuals debate whenever or not it is sinful to have war. Under Thomas Aquinas’ Just War Theory it makes the approach possible as it believes that it makes sense to discuss and debate the morality of war. Under the legitimate authorization aspect to the theory it believes that the decision of whenever to enter/start war must be made by proper legal authority and proper legal process, however there are many flaws among that theory. While the Just War Theory does put into consideration the five reasons of how to approach war, I will be arguing why the legitimate authorization of war to the theory is false.

If people are dismayed by death, than why do we let one dispute turn into a war?  So many people are overwhelmed by war, but no one has the guts to stand up and stop it.  Lina from the book People of Sparks helped end a war by putting out a fire.  But we don’t have to end a war if we can stop it from starting. So then why do people start a war based on what they believe in?  Although in the past people have started wars over what they believe, there are better ways to solve our differences. For example, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks all fought peacefully for what they believe in.  So I believe today there are better ways to stand up for our beliefs.

However, based on the teachings by St. Thomas Aquinas, we believe that it is morally licit to go to war if all of the following criteria are met. International laws regarding the legitimacy of going to war is also rooted in the teachings of Aquinas. There are four conditions that dictate the justice to war. The first condition for Jus ad Bellum (justice to war) is possessing just cause. Aquinas spoke of having a “rightful intention.” We can go to war if we intend to advance some good and prevent a certain evil. Initiating acts of aggression is unjust and gives a group a just cause to defend itself. The damage inflicted by the aggression on the state or community of states must be lasting, grave, and certain. This condition indicates that there must be an aggressor who is harming another state or the community of states. War cannot be initiated simply to enlarge one’s own sphere of influence, conquering of new territory, subjugation of the peoples or obtaining wealth. A state can only go to war to counter aggression. An aggression that is temporary and mild wold not meet this condition it must be foreseen to have effect that are both lasting and

Christianity preaches peace and loving your neighbor but for the history of christianity, there has been violence and war in its name. For Many years people have been killing other human beings in the name of christ or justifying their killings by saying that the war is in the name of god. The belief that violence and war can be justified is called the “Just War Theory.”

When we think about primary reasons for war today, the most common reasons are for war are defending against attack, political control or wealth, recapturing lost items or people, or punishing those who have done wrong. We tend to assume religion is not the main cause of war - according to the Encyclopedia of Wars (Phillips and Axelrod), of the 1,763 major conflicts in recorded history, only 123 of them can be classified as having been fought over religious differences. That’s less than 7 percent.

War is a lot like love: it costs a lot of money, time, and energy; it distracts you from other areas of life; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but most importantly, in the end, it’s still worth fighting for. But unlike love, war cannot and should not be justified and disregarded, by gods or men. No matter what people try to do to resolve their disputes, sometimes they get so aggravated that they resort to killing each other, and the taking of a life is no light matter. It’s no coincidence that most people have post-traumatic stress coming back from the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. It’s because sinners live on the same planet, sinning and accusing the other of sinning while covering their own sin. So wars come and wars go,

There is one problem however for consequentalists as to whether war could cause more suffering that solving the problem. Utilitarian defenders then say that some of these wars increased pain and suffering. If people will go against wars then, happiness will be the ultimate result. In this theory, killing is justified if it will eventually give happiness in the end. An individual can act the way he wants but should be careful not to