Just Another Just War Theory Revelation

Cousin Ben in full combat uniform

Over Thanksgiving, I got to see my cousin Ben, who is in his second year at West Point. My uncle, who was a member of the ROTC Army when he went to University of Michigan, drilled Ben what his classes were as a second year student. Ben mentioned he was taking calculus, English, Persian, and a philosophy class as part of his general education classes. The philosophy class intrigued me; you have to realize, Ben is a science and technology kind of kid. What could he have to gain from a philosophy class? Then Ben mentioned three words that made my ears perk up: just war theory.

This started an hour-long conversation on Michael Walzer’s book Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations between Ben, my uncle, and I.  We talked about jus ad bellum, jus in bello, and jus post bellum(justice before or in going to war, in war, and after war). My uncle had never been taught these terms during his time with the ROTC, and subsequently as an army surgeon, but understood the ideas behind them. Ben, however, had spent more time on the subject than I had when I wrote my second essay. I knew other people must study just war theory, but, somehow, it hadn’t crossed my mind that soldiers would actually study the ideals in Walzer’s book. But in this required class for West Point cadets, they spend a lot of time on Walzer’s writings. This video is a great refresher of what just war theory is as said by Walzer himself, we even showed it to my uncle to help explain it to him.

Just a reminder that Just and Unjust Wars was written fairly recently, in 1977, and is now part of the U.S. military academy’s curriculum. These young soldiers are our country’s future  militarily. I like to think because just war theory is being taught we can hope for a better future for our country’s military actions. Hopefully because of these studies we will not have another war like Vietnam. Hopefully, we will not have sieges, like Leningrad, that killed thousands of civilians. Am I foolish to be this hopeful? I don’t think so.

My aunt's favorite picture of Ben in uniform.

Isn’t this what Rousseau says human nature is at its core in his A Dissertation on the Origin and Foundation of the Inequality of Mankind? Rousseau believes mankind is inheritably good. If this is true, just war theory would appeal to many soldiers’ inner nature. It should be easier in this sense for soldiers to save or refrain from killing than it would be for them to kill people. Perhaps this is the reason just war theory is, in part, integrated into international law. The big problem to me is, just because there is justice in international laws doesn’t mean they are being followed. So how do we ensure justice for civilians? I can’t say I have an answer for this question, although I wish I did. Again, the teaching of just war theory encourages me. Maybe, by teaching just war theory, one day our armies will not require international laws to tell them what is morally correct and incorrect, but it will come naturally, instead. Maybe...