The Culture of War

Abstract

Abstract Philosophers have struggled with the nature and morality of war. Pacifists will have none of it, usually referring back to the condemnation of hatred and violence in the Sermon on the Mount. Most, however, including Christians, believe that war can sometimes be justified—but only if it is morally constrained. Just War Theory—articulated and developed by Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, and others—has wrestled with these problems. Looking at the wars of the last century, regretfully there was not overwhelming use of their ideas—bombing civilians is by any measure wrong—but as the century proceeded one does see increasing effort, as in Desert Storm, to bring warfare into the moral domain.