War

cue cards on war

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CHRISTIAN ETHICS:-

Old Testament – Though shall not kill – goes against war.

Jesus was a pacifist and so is against war! “If someone strikes you on the cheek you turn the other one” showing that you must not fight back. This connects with love thy neighbour and love God .

St Paul – agape, unconditional love for all, do not fight.

Situation ethics by Joseph Fletcher – do the most loving thing. The most loving thing is to not go to war.

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KANT:-

DUTY FOR DUTIES SAKE – CONFLICTING DUTIES the duty of a soldier is to fight whereas the duty of a pacifist is to protest against war. Not everyone has the same duties not everyone can decide on the same decision. Society is flawed.

CATAGORICAL IMPERATIVE – by going to war you are being HYPOTHETICAL, you are killing people for a reason, not because they want to be killed or deserve to be killed.

Universalise? If everyone went to war society would not reach ultimate happiness or flourish and so we shouldn’t because loads of people will die.

Means in themselves? War treats people as a means to an end so no.

Kingdom of ends? If we go to war we will never reach the kingdom of ends.

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UTILITARIANISM:-

ACT – do the greatest good for the greatest number, how many people want war and how many people do not? Is it for the greatest good?

Hedonic calculus, measure the amount of pleasure war will bring and the amount of pain. Does the pain outweigh the pleasure of war?

RULE – apply a rule that is the best for society without causing harm, if it causes harm it can be broken. War is allowed unless causing too much harm and can therefore be abolished.

Higher and lower pleasures – the higher pleasures are to think, read, the lower pleasures are to fight. If the higher pleasures are at risk (i.e. die) then you shouldn’t fight.

Quality of happiness not quantity. If it brings more happiness to not go to war then don’t.

Preference utilitarianism – looks at the preferences of the minority. Everyone’s preferences must be weighed to see whose preference is greater.

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NATURAL LAW:-

St Thomas Aquinas created the JUST WAR THEORY to help resolve what to do in situations of war.

J- Just cause – what is the situation?

I - Intention – does it have the right intention?

L – Last resort – is it the absolute last resort?

C – chances of success - What are the chances this war will be successful?

A – Authority – is the right authority deciding upon war?

P – Proportionality, will it be proportional? Hiroshima.

Aquinas may say this but he believes in the preservation of life – thou shall not kill and so should automatically be against war however he is contradictory. It also does not keep order in society. It goes against worshiping god, thou shall not kill

Society cannot reach eudemonia whilst at war.

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