Just war theory and a practical pacifism.

Item

Title
Just war theory and a practical pacifism.
Identifier
AAI9530854
identifier
9530854
Creator
Bica, Camillo Carl.
Contributor
Adviser: Virginia Held
Date
1995
Language
English
Publisher
City University of New York.
Subject
Philosophy | Political Science, International Law and Relations | Sociology, General
Abstract
It will be argued in this study that, like the use of violence/deadly force in individual defense, the use of war in national defense is subject to certain moral restrictions and prohibitions. While traditional Just War Theory will be accepted as providing the guidelines for determining the justness of war, I will be concerned primarily with the jus in bello criterion of discriminating and affording immunity to non-combatants.;In considering the criterion, I hope to remedy what I take to be the ambiguity and subsequent ineffectiveness of what I will term the "traditional interpretation" of the definitions and concepts necessary for identifying innocents. In so doing I hope also to establish the nature, scope, and liability of such categories as combatant/non-combatant. Then, given (1) the jus in bello prohibition against the injuring/killing of non-combatants; (2) that war--especially modern war--inevitably entails the harming/killing of non-combatants; and (3) the failure of warists to defeat the jus in bello prohibition, I will argue that war is presumptively wrong. As I have arrived at such a conclusion as a consequence of having adhered to the demands and restrictions of the jus in bello criterion, Just War Theory, in my view, while attempting to provide the theoretical guidelines for prosecuting a just war, ultimately entails a presumptive condemnation of all war in practice--what I will term a "Practical Pacifism.".
Type
dissertation
Source
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
degree
Ph.D.
Item sets
CUNY Legacy ETDs