Thomas Aquinas on Virtuous Warfare

Abstract

Thomas Aquinas, one of the "founding fathers" of just war theory, offers an account of virtuous warfare in practice. The author argues that Aquinas's approach to warfare, with its emphasis on justice and charity, is helpful in providing a coherent moral account of war to which Christians can subscribe. Particular attention is given to the role of charity, since this virtue is the distinguishing characteristic of the Christian soldier. Charity compels him to soldier justly, and by fighting justly, he is elevated by God to friendship with God. Notable features of this approach are its emphasis on the criteria for judging whether a war is just and its relativizing of the criteria for proper combat behavior.

Reflecting and Advancing the Transformation: Catholic Theological Ethics and the Journal of Religious Ethics, 1973–2023

“…The profile of the JRE's officers, contributors, and topics, then and now, also reflects the changing character of the field. In the 1970s, the JRE roll‐call of scholars working in and on the Catholic ethical tradition included Daniel Maguire and Warren Reich, who were members of the inaugural Editorial Advisory Council, as well as David Burrell writing with Stanley Hauerwas on Albert Speer (1974), James Gaffney on the principle of totality (1976), Walter Conn on conscience (1977), John Langan on the Beatitudes and Aquinas (1977), John Giles Milhaven on Aquinas on sexual pleasure (1977), Philip Rossi on narrative and worship (1979), and a lone female voice Margaret Farley responding to Ramsey (1979). Looking at 2018 onwards, by contrast, the Board of Trustees includes M. Cathleen Kaveny, Lisa Sowle Cahill, and Aline Kalbian, and the Class of 2024 Editorial Board includes MT Dávila, Linda Hogan, Stephen Pope, and Cristina Traína.…”

“…In this period, in addition to the essays on this renewal of theological anthropology, the JRE carried a small number of essays concerned specifically with Catholic sexual ethics. Essays by John Giles Milhaven on Aquinas on sexual pleasure (1977), William Werpehowski on covenantal faithfulness (1991) and the vocation of parenthood (1997), Pope on homosexuality (1997), and Cahill on Augustine on sex (2001) each demonstrate the implications of the revised theological anthropology for sexual ethics. This new focus on the human subject as opposed to human nature was also emblematic of the moral theology of Karol Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II.…”

Just war and the question of authority

“…5 There has been an increased interest in the Thomistic account of just war with regard to virtue ethics. Cf., e. g., Cole (1999), Gorman (2010), andMcCarthy (2011). anyone to wage war in self-defense or to protect property. Nor is this properly called 'war' (bellum) but rather 'defense' (defensio).…”

Quo Vadis?On the role of just peacewithinjust war

“… 83 For a general overview, see Pope 2002. For a treatment of just war vis-à-vis Aquinas's account of virtue, see Cole 1999.…”