The Modern Secularization of Just War Theory and Its Lessons for Contemporary Thought
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Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 7-15-2015 12:00 AM The Modern Secularization of Just War Theory and its Lessons for Contemporary Thought Aviva Shiller The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dennis Klimchuk The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Philosophy A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Aviva Shiller 2015 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Shiller, Aviva, "The Modern Secularization of Just War Theory and its Lessons for Contemporary Thought" (2015). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 3007. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/3007 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Modern Secularization of Just War Theory and its Lessons for Contemporary Thought (Thesis format: Monograph) by Aviva Shiller Graduate Program in Philosophy A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Aviva Shiller 2015 Abstract Just war theory is a family of views that has undergone many important changes throughout its development in the Western philosophical tradition. The following is an historical analysis of the transition from a religious to a secular conception of just war theory in the Early Modern period. My main argument is that the secularization of the theory led to the separation of jus ad bellum from jus in bello , a major change that had positive consequences on the theory and its application. One important consequence of this change was to place combatants on both sides of a conflict on an equal moral footing, applying the principles of jus in bell o equally to all. But the progress made since the theory’s secularization is threatened to be reversed. Michael Walzer’s “supreme emergency” exemption allows jus in bello to be sacrificed under certain extreme conditions, and Jeff McMahan promotes the view that just and unjust combatants do not have the same rights in war. Furthermore, a popular idea in the social sciences is that if the nations of the world all adopted a democratic mode of governance there would be few to no wars. This democratic peace theory, while not explicitly condoning the use of violence to achieve the result of a lasting peace, has had profound policy implications among democratic states. The United States, for example, has used the justification of spreading democracy abroad to promote its military ambitions for the last century. I put forward a number of arguments against these views and instead promote the adoption of a Kantian program for gradually moving towards a more peaceful international realm based on mutual trust and cooperation. Religious justifications for going to war are no longer popular as a lasting peace was not achieved but rather contradicted by the massive violence caused by religious wars. If the religious justifications for going to war put forward in the Middle Ages were fallacious then I believe we should be skeptical of similar arguments put forward today in the name of political structure. Keywords Just War Theory, Jus ad Bellum, Jus in Bello, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Grotius, Kant, Democratic Peace Theory, Michael Walzer, Jeff McMahan. ii Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without the support of a great number of people including the faculty, staff and graduate students at Western University’s philosophy department. Thanks to Amy Wuest, Saad Anis and Ryan Middleton for their hospitality and friendship. Thanks are owed to Richard Vernon and Charles Jones for discussing and commenting on drafts of all the chapters, working with you has been a pleasure. I am forever indebted to Dennis Klimchuk for his constant guidance and encouragement; this work would be far inferior without your energy and dedication. And finally, thanks to my family and especially Guillaume for everything that you do. This work is dedicated to Emanuel in the hopes that you live to see a world free of war. iii Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... iv Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: ........................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Chapter 2: ........................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 3: ...................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 4: ...................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 5: ...................................................................................................................................................................... 12 1 Early Christian Conceptions of the Just War ....................................................................... 15 1.1 Augustine on the Just War ......................................................................................................................... 18 1.2 Gratian ................................................................................................................................................................ 35 1.3 The Decretists and Decretalists ............................................................................................................... 38 1.4 Aquinas on the Just War ............................................................................................................................. 42 2 Grotius and the Modern Secularization of Just War Theory .......................................... 49 2.1 Grotius on Rights ............................................................................................................................................ 52 2.2 Individual and Collective Rights in War .............................................................................................. 56 2.3 Grotius on the Independence of jus in bello ....................................................................................... 68 2.4 Just War and Holy War Contrasted ....................................................................................................... 72 2.5 Natural and Divine Law .............................................................................................................................. 77 3 Kant’s Perpetual Peace................................................................................................................ 81 3.1 Kant’s Perpetual Peace Explained .......................................................................................................... 83 3.1.1 Six Preliminary Articles ............................................................................................................. 83 3.1.2 Three Definitive Articles ........................................................................................................... 88 3.2 Kant’s Larger Political Commitments .................................................................................................. 95 3.2.1 Kant on Freedom and Coercion ............................................................................................. 95 3.2.2 The Original Contract and International Law .................................................................. 98 3.2.3 Kant on the Just War ................................................................................................................ 100 3.3 Kant’s Just War Theory ............................................................................................................................. 105 iv 4 Democratic Peace Theory ........................................................................................................ 114 4.1 The Structural Argument ........................................................................................................................ 115 4.2 The Norms and Culture Argument ...................................................................................................... 120 4.3 Why Kant is not a Democratic Peace Theorist .............................................................................. 126 4.4 The Democratic Peace in Theory ........................................................................................................