Just War Theory Essay

The just war theory is a Western Civilizational term that offers a set of guidelines that should be applied in war. The purpose of this theory is to provide a universal set of ethics to ensure that wars are not only justifiable, but that limits are established in order to preserve some humanity. There are numerous wars that could be analyzed through this theory, however, in this essay the United States involvement in World War II will be the focus due to the conflict it created globally.

World War II is argued to be the deadliest conflict in human history, based on the number of countries involved and amount of lives lost in the wake of its years. Although the exact number of fatalities is unknown, its figure could be amounted to a hypothetical earthquake that would make the entire west coast of the United States and Canada become extinct. The United States was able to maintain neutrality for the first two years of the war, however, the attack on the American naval fleet in Pearl Harbor initiated the countries involvement. America and Great Britain declared war on Japan, which resulted Germany and Italy declaring war on America due to their alliance with Japan.

The just war theory is comprised of

It’s an external virtue that is elicited internally, which is demonstrated in the way that we treat others. In the eyes of Augustine and Cicero, if a commonwealth is wrongly treated by another entity, that entity should be punished. Additionally, with the support of Aristotle’s belief that unjust interactions should be corrected, punishing an entity for a wrongdoing is done out of justice if a war is declared. This theory could be applied to not only the warfare between America and Japan, but also the warfare in Germany. The genocide that took place in Germany under Adolf Hitler’s reign, could be considered a wrongdoing that needed to be addressed under the just war