TO WAR FOR RIGHTS: MODERN JUST WAR THEORY AND PARADOXES OF LIBERAL JUSTICE By Tiago de Almeida Lier, BAH University of Alberta A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Political Science Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario Canada © Tiago de Almeida Lier, 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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ABSTRACT Modem just war theory, as characterized by the work of Michael Walzer, distinguishes itself from the just war tradition by virtue of its professed secular morality. This morality, rooted in a human rights argument, proves to be the source for several shortcomings in the theory, such as the paradoxical attribution of obligations to friend and foe alike, and the obfuscation of the plurality of conceptions of justice that exist internationally. A complete understanding of this paradox entails examining the idea of human rights, as it developed from Christian theology into modernity. The metaphysical shift from the idea of the good to the idea of right, as the basis for obligation, necessitates the idea of the social contract. This implies and a number of basic principles of justice - freedom, equality, and tolerance - although the universal application of such principles, particularly in the case of war, becomes an endeavor in contradiction. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: THE MODERN JUST WAR....................................................................................................11 D evelo pm en t o f a secu lar t h e o r y ......................................................................................................................... 12 The principleso f t h e j u s t w a r...................................................................................................................................14 1. Principles ofius ad bellum...........................................................................................................................16 2. Principles ofius in bello............................................................................................................................... 20 T heo retica l foundations ...........................................................................................................................................24 Critiq uing th e ju st w a r ................................................................................................................................................36 Co n c l u sio n s...................................................................................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 2: UNIVERSAL RIGHTS.............................................................................................................52 H um an rights c a su istry .............................................................................................................................................. 53 H um an r ig h t s ....................................................................................................................................................................58 T he C hristian inheritance......................................................................................................................................... 63 R ights in C hristianity ..................................................................................................................................................71 T he prio rity o f rig h t o ver g o o d ............................................................................................................................. 73 The lim itingo f t h e w i l l .............................................................................................................................................. 77 Co n c l u sio n s...................................................................................................................................................................... 83 CHAPTER 3: THE UNIVERSAL APPLICATION OF LIBERAL JUSTICE....................................... 87 T he roots o f libera l ju s t ic e......................................................................................................................................88 Freedom as r ig h t .............................................................................................................................................................94 E quality as r ig h t ............................................................................................................................................................99 Toleran ce as o b l ig a t io n ..........................................................................................................................................103 U niversalizing libera l ju s t ic e..............................................................................................................................108 H um an rights and m o d ern just w ar t h e o r y ................................................................................................... 118 Co n c l u sio n s.................................................................................................................................................................... 123 CHAPTER 4: THE POSSIBILITY OF A JUST WAR..............................................................................125 Conversation betw een tr a d itio n s .......................................................................................................................127 Translatin g th e d iv in e ...............................................................................................................................................139 Reca ptu rin g Phronesis in International Po litic s ........................................................................................144 Co n c l u sio n s.................................................................................................................................................................... 155 CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................................158 BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................................................................................. 167 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Introduction On March 16, 1968, an American infantry company, expecting enemy resistance, crept into the My Lai (4) sub-hamlet of Son My hamlet in southern Vietnam. Upon realizing that their quarry had fled, the soldiers proceeded to gather the inhabitants - all unarmed civilians - for execution, on the charge of aiding the Vietcong. Private Paul Meadlo, speaking with journalist Seymour Hersh, describes his part in the slaughter of nearly 500 Vietnamese: We pushed our seven to eight people in[to the ditch] with the big bunch of them. And so I began shooting them all. So did Mitchell, Calley ..