The history and philosophy of bellum justum. Speaker: Costas Douzinas. In 1914, at the beginning of WWI, Cardinals Mercier of Belgium and Billot of France had a heated argument about the sacred nature of pro patria mori. For the Belgian, a soldier who dies defending his country is assured eternal salvation. Such martyrdom is the highest form of love and cleanses a life of sin making the sinner a saint. The French Cardinal disagreed: this is to forget what god sin and forgiveness are. Forgiving sins through secular heroism is theologically indefensible. Their argument is a modern expression of a much older debate about the justice and goodness of war. This talk will offer a brief the history of bellum justum and then examine the contemporary legal, political and cultural aspects of causta justa and jus in bello. Are there any just wars today?
- Peace [1]
