Politics, Justice, and War
Christian Governance and the Ethics of Warfare
Published on 14. May 2015
Book
Hardback
232 pages
978-0-19-872395-0 (ISBN)
Description
The just war ethic emerges from an affirmative response to the basic question of whether people may sometimes permissibly intend to kill other people.
In Politics, Justice, and War, Joseph E. Capizzi clarifies the meaning and coherence of the 'just war' approach, to the use of force in the context of Christian ethics. By reconnecting the just war ethic to an Augustinian political approach, Capizzi illustrates that the just war ethic requires emphasis on the 'right intention', or goal, of peace as ordered justice. With peace set as the goal of war, the various criteria of the just war ethic gain their intelligibility and help provide practical guidance to all levels of society regarding when to go to war and how to strive to contain it.
So conceived, the ethic places stringent limits on noncombatant or 'innocent' killing in war, helps make sense of contemporary technological and strategic challenges, and opens up space for a critical and constructive dialogue with international law.
In Politics, Justice, and War, Joseph E. Capizzi clarifies the meaning and coherence of the 'just war' approach, to the use of force in the context of Christian ethics. By reconnecting the just war ethic to an Augustinian political approach, Capizzi illustrates that the just war ethic requires emphasis on the 'right intention', or goal, of peace as ordered justice. With peace set as the goal of war, the various criteria of the just war ethic gain their intelligibility and help provide practical guidance to all levels of society regarding when to go to war and how to strive to contain it.
So conceived, the ethic places stringent limits on noncombatant or 'innocent' killing in war, helps make sense of contemporary technological and strategic challenges, and opens up space for a critical and constructive dialogue with international law.
Reviews / Votes
Joseph E. Capizzi's Politics, Justice, and War: Christian Governance and the Ethics of Warfare brings a fresh Augustinian Christian perspective to debates over how to do justice before, during, and after war. The work does what good scholarship should do: it looks at old debates with new eyes, drawing from a long tradition of thought about war while addressing issues and ideas of the moment and engaging thinkers whose work has been particularly salient in shaping contemporary discussions. * Laura E. Alexander, The Religion Journal * ...present lucid and thoughtful accounts of the classic just war tradition and how it might usefully speak to political power. * Jeremy S. Stirm, Studies in Christian Ethics * Highly readable and engaging * Andrew J. B. Cameron, Theology journal *More details
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2015
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€63.49
Available for download
Person
Joseph E. Capizzi is professor of moral theology and ethics at the Catholic University of America. He is the co-author, with Andrew Abela, of A Catechism for Business: Tough Ethical Questions and Insights from Catholic Teaching (Catholic University Press, 2014).
Content
Introduction ; 1. Just War and Politics ; 2. Intention, Politics, and War as Peacemaking ; 3. Judgment, Punishment, and Discrimination ; 4. War, the International Law, and Deception