The Just War Tradition: An Introduction (American Ideals and Institutions) - Hardcover

Corey, David D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1935191101 ISBN 13: 9781935191100

Publisher: ISI Books, 2011

Synopsis

Reclaiming the just war tradition

 Politicians, pundits, and scholars have cited the principles of “just war” to defend military actions from Iraq to Afghanistan to Libya. Other politicians, pundits, and scholars have cited just war principles to condemn those same military interventions. How can the same tradition lead to such sharply opposing conclusions? What is the just war tradition, and why is it important today?

 

Authors David D. Corey and J. Daryl Charles answer those questions in this insightful exploration. A fascinating blend of history, theology, and political philosophy, The Just War Tradition: An Introduction traces the development of the tradition from its inception nearly two millennia ago. Corey and Charles illuminate how the various voices within the tradition—from Augustine and Aquinas, to Luther and Calvin, to Suárez and Locke, up to present-day commentators—relate to one another and to rival ways of understanding war and peace.

 

While the just war tradition cannot be reduced to a checklist, a bare catalog of criteria that must be fulfilled for war to be just, Corey and Charles reveal why this rich tradition provides the only framework for evaluating the moral particulars of coercive force. Their invaluable book reintroduces the wisdom that is desperately needed in our national debates.

About this title

About the Authors

David D. Corey is professor of political philosophy in the Honors College at Baylor University. His teaching and scholarship focus on major figures in the history of political thought, the ethics of war, and questions relating to method in political philosophy.

J. Daryl Charles is an affiliated scholar of the Acton Institute and the author, coauthor, or coeditor of fifteen books, including War, Peace, and Christianity and Between Pacifism and Jihad.

David D. Corey teaches political philosophy at Baylor University. His teaching and scholarship focus on major figures in the history of political thought, the ethics of war, and questions relating to method in political philosophy.

J. Daryl Charles is director and senior fellow of the Bryan Institute for Critical Thought and Practice. He is author, coauthor, or coeditor of ten other books, including War, Peace, and Christianity and Between Pacifism and Jihad.

Edition details

• Publisher: ISI Books
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1935191101
• ISBN 13: 9781935191100
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 360