St. Augustine's Just War

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Today in Philosophy Class, we have discussed about the prominent Middle Ages philosopher St. Augustine. We had lots to see in common between St. Augustine and the reason why the crusades probably have started. In his book, Just War, he states rules to be followed in order to make a war righteous and be preformed in the name of peace. Here are the seven rules of the Just War:

1. Last Resort
2. Initiated by the government or a higher power
3. Chance of success
4. "Right Intentions"
5. Re-establish peace
6. Proportionality
7. Do not attack the civilians

Although Augustine sought war as a sin, he also knew that it was inevitable and that only rationalization for war was to achieve peace.

We see in Crusades that the crusaders try to follow this rule although they seem to fail most of the time.