Just War

"De vita, moribus et regimine principum", miroir des princes rédigé par l'infant Pierre d'Aragon (v.1357-1358) (BN Madrid, mss n°12987)

by Alexandra Beauchamp

On-line edition : "Narpan.net : Espai de Literatura i Cultura Medieval"

Cette édition électronique du miroir des princes latin en 35 chapitres adressé vers 1357-1358 par l'infant Pierre... more Cette édition électronique du miroir des princes latin en 35 chapitres adressé vers 1357-1358 par l'infant Pierre d'Aragon, fils du roi Jacques II, à son neveu le roi Pierre IV d'Aragon, est établie à partir du seul manuscrit connu de ce texte étonnant.
Il s'agit d'une copie d'un original du XIVe siècle, réalisée vers 1752 pour le père Andrés Marcos Burriel (jésuite qui dirigea la commission de recherche sur les archives espagnoles de 1750 à 1756), lorsque le manuscrit médiéval fut offert par des religieux au ministre d'Etat don José Carvajal y Lancaster. L'original, encore inventorié en 1872 dans les fonds de l'Archivo General de la Administración d'Alcalá de Henares, est actuellement introuvable.
Le manuscrit moderne (BN Madrid, mss n°12987) est composé d'un cahier de 75 folios, qui contient le traité (fol. 9r-72v), précédé d'une esquisse grossière d'une miniature ornant l'original (l'infant Pierre agenouillé offre son manuscrit au roi) et de la copie de deux lettres échangées en 1752 entre le ministre Carvajal et les jésuites d'Ecija qui conservaient l'original.

Cette édition suit à la lettre la copie du texte établie au XVIIIe siècle. Nous avons respecté la ponctuation introduite par le copiste, et reporté en note les références des citations bibliques qu'il a introduites. Nous les avons cependant modernisées et avons identifié de nombreuses citations non référencées. L'édition ici présentée complète donc l'édition ancienne et très lacunaire établie par Ferran Valls i Taberner, qui omet des mots et des phrases entières ( F. Valls i Taberner, "El tractat 'de regimine principum' de l'infant Pere d'Arago", Estudis franciscans, 37 (1926-1), p. 432-450 (chap.1-15), 38 (1926-2), p. 107-119 (chap.16-24), et p. 199-209 (chap.25-35) ; cette édition, précédée d'une introduction, est réimprimée dans M. J. Pelaez , J. Calvo (éd.), Literatura jurídica , Barcelone, 1986, p. 259-298).

Nous proposons une étude détaillée de ce traité original dans l’article : "De l'action à l'écriture : le « De regimine principum » de l'infant Pierre d'Aragon (v. 1357-1358)", Anuario de Estudios Medievales , 35/1 (2005), p. 233-270.

De l'action à l'écriture : le "De regimine principum" de l'infant Pierre d'Aragon (v. 1357-1358)

by Alexandra Beauchamp

published in "Anuario de Estudios Medievales", 35/1 (2005), p.233-270.

Before he became a Franciscan (November 1358, 12th) infant Peter of Aragon wrote a king's mirror (the De regimine... more Before he became a Franciscan (November 1358, 12th) infant Peter of Aragon wrote a king's mirror (the De regimine principum) dedicated to his nephew, king Peter IV of Aragon. In this text, known from a single 18th Century manuscript, he describes the ideal king and advises him. Thanks to its sources and many quotations and explanations, this text is quite close to biblical commentaries and sermons, but its structure and lack of Aristotelian quotations distinguish it from Gilles' of Rome famous “De regimine principum”. Infant Peter's is also very influenced by his political pragmatism at the beginning of the war against Castilla: he recognises king's power is limited and dependant from his subjects' military and financial support.

Review of Michael L. Gross's: Moral Dilemmas of Modern War: Torture, Assassination, and Blackmail in an Age of Asymmetric Conflict.

by Jacob Held

Follow the link to find it on-line in Philosophy in Review

Review of Michael L. Gross's: Moral Dilemmas of Modern War: Torture, Assassination, and Blackmail in an Age of... more Review of Michael L. Gross's: Moral Dilemmas of Modern War: Torture, Assassination, and Blackmail in an Age of Asymmetric Conflict.

As the War Machine Keeps Turning: Just War Theory, Pacifism, and the War on Terror

by Jacob Held

Draft of a chapter in the upcoming: Black Sabbath and Phlosophy, edited by William Irwin (Wiley-Blackwell). This book is going to be wonderful. Check it out.

Using Black Sabbath's iconic anti-war anthem, "War Pigs" I discuss and explain traditional war theory and... more Using Black Sabbath's iconic anti-war anthem, "War Pigs" I discuss and explain traditional war theory and pacifism. I conclude by applying traditional just war theory to the "war on terror" and argue that pacifism is the only morally sound response to terrorism.

Review of Tripodi and Wolfendale: "New Wars and New Soldiers"

by Eric Rovie

Guerra giusta, nemico ingiusto: Schmitt interprete di Kant

by Francesco Mancuso

"Jura Gentium",VI (2010), 1

Los derechos de los indígenas americanos y la tradición jurídica medieval

by Xavier Tubau

in "Tierras prometidas: de la colonia a la independencia", eds. B. Castany, B. Hernández, L. Fernández, G. Serés and M. Serna, Barcelona, CECE-UAB, 2011, pp. 399-426.

This article aims to draw attention to the role canon law played in debating on Indians' rights during the sixteenth... more This article aims to draw attention to the role canon law played in debating on Indians' rights during the sixteenth century. As James Muldoon and Kenneth Pennington have shown, commentaries by Innocent IV to the decretal "Quod super his" by Innocent III, as well as the commentary by Hostiensis on the same text, became the frame in which to think about the public and private rights of infidels from the thirteenth century onwards. In this article I focus on works by Juan López de Palacios Rubios, Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolomé de las Casas, and I study what place this doctrinal tradition occupies in their respective ideas about Indians' rights.

What is wrong with just war tradition?

by Jiri Krcek

The Weakness of Power and the Power of Weakness: The Ethics of War in a Time of Terror

by Michael Northcott

In 2002 a significant number of American theologians declared that the ‘war on terror’ was a just war. But the... more In 2002 a significant number of American theologians declared that the ‘war on terror’ was a just war. But the indiscriminate strategies and munitions technologies deployed in the invasion and occupation of Iraq fall short of the just war principles of non-combatant immunity, and proportionate response. The just war tradition is one of Christendom's most enduring legacies to the law of nations. Its practice implies a standard of virtue in war that is undermined by the indiscriminate effects of many modern weapons and by the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure. The violent power represented by the technology of what the Vatican calls ‘total war’has occasioned a significant shift in Catholic social teaching on just war since the Second World War. Total war generates an asymmetry of weakness in those subjected to these techniques of terror, and this has only strengthened the violence of the Islamist struggle against the West. But those who draw inspiration and legitimacy from this weakness in their struggle with the West also reject virtue in war. In a time of terror the theological vocation is to speak peace and to recall the terms in which the peace of God was achieved by way of the cross.

Leaving Iraq: Immunity, Impunity, and the End of the War

by Ronald Osborn

Commonweal Magazine, Vol.139, No.5, March 9, 2012 (cover story)

If the logic of empire dictates that U.S. soldiers be placed above or beyond the laws of any land they occupy, even in... more If the logic of empire dictates that U.S. soldiers be placed above or beyond the laws of any land they occupy, even in peaceful, modern, and democratic nations that are close American allies, how much more so in still war-torn Iraq—a country in which documented war crimes involving U.S. forces during the past nine years continue to go unpunished. There are obvious political reasons why the Obama administration refused to leave troops stationed in Iraq without guarantees of immunity from Iraqi law. There are also obvious reasons why the Iraqis refused to accept the neocolonial logic that U.S. soldiers must be granted immunity from the legal jurisdiction of any country that “hosts” them.

The Challenge of Selective Conscientious Objection In Israel

by Randy Friedman

Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Thought 109 (April 2006): 79 – 99.

This paper examines the arguments of a group of reservists in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) who refused to serve in... more This paper examines the arguments of a group of reservists in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) who refused to serve in the Occupied Territories, claiming a right to selective conscientious objection (SCO). SCO is not recognized by the IDF, and an appeal to international conventions, the laws of the State, and freedom of conscience failed to persuade the Israeli High Court of Justice to overturn the IDF’s punishment of the reservists. The State’s refusal to recognize SCO will continue to be challenged, and a better justification may be needed to support this decision.

“Only the King Can Do It: Adaptation and Flexibility in Crusade Ideology in Sixteenth Century Spain,”

by Patrick O'Banion

Church History (forthcoming)

Reforming efforts at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the challenges of Protestantism, the rise of national states,... more Reforming efforts at the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the challenges of Protestantism, the rise of national states, and the reassessment of just war doctrine, had initiated a moment of crisis for crusading by the mid-sixteenth century.  Indeed, historians have described these trends as signaling the end of the movement.  This article explores the theoretical underpinnings deployed by an elite group of Spanish theologian and churchmen in May of 1567 to shore up their monarch’s claim to a lucrative version of the crusade indulgence granted by popes since the fifteenth century.  By rehearsing traditional arguments, eschewing those they saw as obsolete, and deploying new ones, these theorists expose the remarkable adaptability of crusading.  The integrity of papally sanctioned holy war against the enemies of the faith collapsed in later centuries with the rise of international law and recognition of permanent divisions within the respublica Christiana.  Yet, the ability of sixteenth-century Spanish theorists to recast ideology in the face of shifting intellectual, cultural, and social tides indicates the continuing viability of crusading during a period of inchoateness.

A Parallel Reality Construction of War among Joloano Muslim Survivors in Sulu, Philippines

by FREDE MORENO

Authored by Lea Usman-Laput, PhD

The Mindanao conflict in Southern Philippines is a long-standing controversy that has eluded comprehensive solutions.... more The Mindanao conflict in Southern Philippines is a long-standing controversy that has eluded comprehensive solutions. Despite efforts of the Government of the Philippines (GRP) and the representatives from the peoples of Mindanao in undertaking peace initiatives, “the war:” continues.

The establishment of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) as embodied in an organic law provided in the 1986 Philippine Constitution has not seemed to bring about the much-anticipated progress. Even with the so-called “autonomy” already in place to substantiate the clamor of the Muslims for self-rule in the Tripoli Agreement, conflict has escalated signifying unrest among the people.

Instead of dealing with the problem from the standpoint of an “outsider” who may know about the Mindanao conflict from what they hear, the study attempted to get a glimpse of “the war” from the “insiders” who have survived and lived to tell their own stories. From the perspectives of two distinct peoples of Sulu- the Christian and Muslim Joloanos, the study was able to penetrate the heart of conflict in Mindanao.

The study was able to visualize “the 1974 war” and the on-going conflicts from two cultural lenses and in the process was able to demonstrate a “parallel reality construction” among the war survivors who provided interesting insights of “the war” from their “fantasy themes”.

The research has not only surfaced conflicting notions in their revelations of “the war” as experienced (subjective realities) but has generated elements of “convergence” as their experiences were correlated with the institutionalized beliefs of war (objective realities) or the war as told.  Despite distinct subjective realities, they have shown proclivity towards parallel perceptions.

The Joloano war survivors’ subjective realities as applied in the study include their psycho-social trauma of the war and their portrayal of the role of “the other” culture as co-survivors of war. Among the elderly, descriptions of their fears and negative emotions have strongly echoed “old prejudices”. Among the middle-aged, “prudence” and tact in their narratives revealed a tendency to rationalize and to show sympathy towards “the other” culture. From the young war survivors a propensity towards confronting their dilemma suggested optimism and resilience in their perceptions.

Transitions in the subjective realities of the war survivors are apparent across culture and age. Opposing views are very strong among the elderly except for one Christian and a Muslim who are associated with “the other” culture by reason of marriage with them. The older Christian Joloanos for instance believe that the war was “unnecessary” while the older Muslims were convinced it was “inevitable”. The study has strongly shown that “shifts” in perceptions could be anchored on the participants’ religious beliefs and changing circumstances that come with age, political set-up, economic climate and inter-marriage among others.

Their reactions towards the prevailing issues of war (media war issues, other concepts and beliefs of war) which constitute the institutionalized-objective realities as defined in the study are “convergent” despite distinct experiences and personal circumstances. They have for example generally shown disagreement towards the commonly held concept that the mass media function to crystallize relevant issues, like the war in Mindanao. The majority of the co-authors furthermore negated the belief of the general public that “Christians and Muslims can never co-exist peacefully, and that the 1974 war was a form of “jihad” or a religious war among Muslims.

In the study therefore, communication has been proven once again to play a vital role in clarifying issues of the Mindanao conflict. It performed an emancipatory role in ways that provided rhetorical and psychological relief by allowing an occasion for war survivors to deconstruct their realities through their narratives. And to reconstruct their meaning of war by actively taking part in correcting prevailing notions of war to bring about the much needed change in a war-torn community like Sulu.

Supreme emergencies without the bad guys

by Per Sandin

Published in Philosophia Volume 37, Number 1, 153-167, 2009,

Just Policing: An Ellulian Critique

by Andy Alexis-Baker

Alexis-Baker, Andy. "Just Policing: An Ellulian Critique." The Ellul Forum 48 (Fall, 2011): 12–18.

In the past decade many pacifist-minded Christians have began to explore differences between policing and warfare with... more In the past decade many pacifist-minded Christians have began to explore differences between policing and warfare with the noble hope of limiting or even abolishing war as we know it. Jim Wallis claims that since 9/11 many Christians have re-read Jacques Ellul, “who explained his decision to support the resistance movement against Nazism by appealing to the ‘necessity of violence’ but wasn’t willing to call such recourse ‘Christian.’” Similarly, Christian pacifists might respond to terrorism, Wallis claimed, by advocating that the international community create a global police force to deal with violations of international law and human rights. Such a force, Wallis wrote, is “much more constrained, controlled, and circumscribed by the rule of law than is the violence of war, which knows few real boundaries.” Wallis’ suggestion that Ellul’s works may help to formulate a response to terrorism, and that such a response ought to be “policing” raises the question of what an Ellulian analysis of policing might look like.

In my paper, I will use Ellul—rather than summarize his views—to critique just policing. Those who advocate for just policing have not adequately tested whether police are less violent because of the rule of law, and they make ahistorical arguments that do not countenance the possibility that policing may in fact sustain or even worsen violence, not lessen it.

The Nature of Necessity in the Just War Theories of The West and Islam

by Eric Gallager

The second paper I wrote for my Peace Studies class with Professor Irene Oh in the fall semester of my junior year at GWU.

In this paper I argue that the argument of necessity serves similar purposes in the just war theories of both the West... more In this paper I argue that the argument of necessity serves similar purposes in the just war theories of both the West and Islam, and that what differs between how it is used in each is what exactly constitutes "necessity."

Technologie et Souffrance dans le Guerre (Forthcoming)

by Nolen Gertz

In "Les drones aériens: passé, présent et futur. Approche globale", La Documentation Française. Coll. Stratégie aérospatiale (2012)

French translation of my "Technology and Suffering in War" French translation of my "Technology and Suffering in War"

A Death to Celebrate?: The Just-War Tradition and the Killing of Bin Laden

by Ronald Osborn

Commonweal, Vol.138, No.11, June 3, 2011 (cover story)

Was the killing of bin Laden a legitimate action? Most Americans have already concluded that it was. For those... more Was the killing of bin Laden a legitimate action? Most Americans have already concluded that it was. For those Christians who subscribe to just-war precepts, however, perhaps the most difficult requirement of the tradition is the demand that we mourn rather than celebrate the deaths of our foes, and that the occasion of killing be one of moral introspection rather than of unbridled enthusiasm or unexamined joy among those who claim justice for their side.

E. Jane Doering, Simone Weil and the Specter of Self-Perpetuating Force. Reviewed by

by David Robjant

There's an unfortunate tradition of writing about Iris Murdoch as if she is just Simone Weil plus fiction. I do take an interest in Weil, which this might suggest, although I have yet to get round to entering any debates about her other than to say that Doering appears to have confused Simone Weil with Joan Baez.

Unmanned Warfare: Psychological and Ethical Dimensions

by Nolen Gertz

Humanities and Technology Review, vol. 30 (2011), pgs. 57-76

Though over the years our methods of care have become more sophisticated, with each new war we’ve been painfully... more Though over the years our methods of care have become more sophisticated, with each new war we’ve been painfully reminded that we still haven’t solved the problem of suffering experienced by soldiers during and after war. However, with the military now able to use computer and real-life simulations to create hyper-realistic training programs to prepare soldiers for combat, more advanced weaponry to remove soldiers from contact with the enemy, and virtual reality in counseling to help soldiers understand their wartime experiences and integrate back into society, perhaps this technological revolution paves the way for a parallel therapeutic revolution. These ways of trying to deal with this problem show us that we haven’t yet abandoned the view that the soldier’s suffering is caused by the effects of battle. Yet, as early as 1919, Freud attempted to challenge this view by showing that “shell shock” could be better understood and treated if we stopped clinging to the idea that the “shock” is caused by the “shell,” and instead investigated the factors particular to the individual that allowed for the onset of shock in the first place. Through Freud’s research we can find a psychoanalytic method with which to explore this problem. By shifting our perspective from the battlefield to the individual I argue that the technological advances being applied to the suffering surrounding warfare are obscuring more fundamental issues. The source of this problem is much closer to home than we might realize, and technology can at best delay suffering or at worst create the dangerous illusion that we’ve cured it.