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The Principle of Double Effect and Just War Theory

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Abstract

The paper explores the relationship between the Principle of Double Effect (PDE) and Just War Theory (JWT), with emphasis on their relationship in the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Both PDE and JWT are of Medieval origin (the former with St. Thomas Aquinas and the latter with St. Augustine), and are classical exponents of medieval moral philosophy. The main connection between them is, however, that they can both be viewed as theories about permissible violence and harm, that is theories about when it is morally permissible to harm and possibly kill another human being. The final point of the paper is that PDE is an important element within JWT, or rather that when just war theorists manage to justify a certain types of violence they do so by extensive use of PDE. This only applies to one part of JWT, jus in bello, which concerns the actual morality of fighting, not the right to war itself. If these assumptions can be reasonably fleshed out, and if it is possible to show that PDE is of crucial importance to certain elements of jus in bello, such as methods for justifying civilian casualties, that would entail that our own moral examinations of warfare differ precisely because we either accept or don’t accept PDE as a viable and reasonable principle in normative ethics.

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Notes

  1. Kerr (2009) Thomas Aquinas: A very short introduction, Oxford University Press, p. X.

  2. Aquinas, T. (2018a) S. th. II, 2, 40, 1, http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3040.htm. Accesed 15 June 2018.

  3. S. th. II, 2, 40.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Fiala (2010) Pacifism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pacifism/, Accessed: January 26, 2012.

  8. S. th. II, 2, 40.

  9. Ibid.

  10. Aquinas, T. (2018b) S. th. II, 2, 64, http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3064.htm. Accessed 15 June 2018.

  11. Keenan (1993), The function of the principle of double effect, Theological Studies 54, 294–315.

  12. Ibid., 299.

  13. Mangan (1949), An historical analysis of the principle of double effect, Theological Studies 10, 43.

  14. Another way of putting it might be to say that Aquinas’ usage of PDE is as a makeshift tool for dealing with one particular problem, rather that as the standardized multi-purpose power-tool that later authors would go on to develop.

  15. S. th. II, 2, 64, 7.

  16. Ibid.

  17. Ibid. Although the length of the passage exceeds what is preferred for papers of this size, it is central to the paper an thus copied verbatim in full.

  18. Van den Beld (1988), Killing and the principle of double effect, Scottish Journal of Theology 41 (1), 95.

  19. S. th. II, 2, 40, 4.

  20. Perhaps even required, though Aquinas certainly does not go that far.

  21. The conditions are as previously cited from: Van den Beld (1988), Killing and the principle...

  22. The Christmas truce was popularly depicted in the motion picture: Carion (2004) Joyeux Noël, Sony Pictures Classics, USA. A written depiction of the Christmas truce can be found in: Streissguth (2016) The Christmas truce of 1914, Abdo Cunsulting Group Inc., USA. A critical treatment of the popular story and actual events can be found in: Crocker (2015) The Christmas truce: Myth, memory, and the First World War, The University Press of Kentucky, USA.

  23. Carion (2004) Joyeux Noël...

  24. Lichtenberg (1994) War, innocence, and the doctrine of double effect, Philosophical Studies 74, 347.

  25. Ibid.

  26. See for instance: Orend (2001) Just war and lawful conduct in war: Reflections on Michael Walzer, Law and Philosophy 20 (1), 1–30.

  27. Walzer (2006) Just and unjust wars. A moral argument with historical illustrations (4th ed.) Basic Books, New York, 11.

  28. See Laden (n.d.) Letter to America, from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver, Accessed: 15 December 2018.

  29. McItyre (2014) Doctrine of double effect, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, from: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/double-effect/, Accessed: 10 October 2018.

  30. See for instance Kasher and Yadlin (2006) Military ethics of fighting terror: Principles, Philosophia 34:76, DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-006-9000-5: “We do not deny the fact that occasionally acts of guerilla warfare are similar to acts of terror, in some respects. Acts of both kinds can be conducted by persons who live in seemingly ordinary residential areas and use them for planning their acts and hiding from their enemies. However, guerrilla warfare differs from terror activity in that it is conducted primarily for the purpose of disrupting military activity through the use of military or quasi-military means and methods. Guerilla warfare is intended against military targets or infrastructure targets that support military forces within a territory those forces occupy. Guerilla acts are very similar to military acts, whereas acts of terror are very different from them. Hence, principles related to fighting terror and principles related to anti-guerilla warfare should be treated separately, forming separate parts of Military Ethics.”

  31. The ‘supposed good effect’ which is often mentioned is national liberation, but this is an overly consequentialist argument, and as Walzer puts it in Walzer (1988) Terrorism: A critique of excuses, Walzer, M. (2004) Arguing about war, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 55: “[...] even if we were to grant some means-end relationship between terror and national liberation, the third excuse does not work unless it can meet the further requirements of a consequentialist argument. It must be possible to say that the desired end could not have been achieved through any other, less wrongful, means.”

  32. Walzer (2002) After 9/11: Five questions about terrorism, in: Walzer, M. (2004) Arguing about war, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 137.

  33. Russell (1915) The ethics of war, International Journal of Ethics 25 (2), 127.

References

  • Aquinas, T. (2018a) S. th. II, 2, 40, http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3040.htm.. Accessed 15 June 2018.

  • Aquinas, T., (2018b) S. th. II, 2, 64, from: http://www.newadvent.org/summa/3064.htm. Accessed 15 June 2018.

  • Carion, C. (2004). Joyeux Noël. USA: Sony Pictures Classics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crocker, T. B. (2015). The Christmas truce: Myth, memory, and the first world war. USA: The University Press of Kentucky.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiala, A. (2010) Pacifism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pacifism/. Accessed 26 Jan 2012.

  • Kasher, A., & Yadlin, A. (2006). Military ethics of fighting terror: Principles. Philosophia, 34, 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-006-9000-5.

  • Keenan, J. F. (1993). The function of the principle of double effect. Theological Studies, 54, 294–315.

  • Kerr, F. (2009) Thomas Aquinas: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.

  • Laden, O. bin (n.d.) Letter to America, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver. Accessed 1 June 2018.

  • Lichtenberg, J. (1994). War, innocence, and the doctrine of double effect. Philosophical Studies 74, 347–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mangan, J. T. (1949). An historical analysis of the principle of double effect. Theological Studies 10, 41–61.

  • McItyre, A. (2014) Doctrine of double effect, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/double-effect/. Accessed 10 Oct 2018.

  • Orend, B. (2001). Just war and lawful conduct in war: Reflections on Michael Walzer. Law and Philosophy, 20(1), 1–30.

  • Russell, B. (1915). The ethics of war. International Journal of Ethics 25(2), 127–142.

  • Streissguth, T. (2016). The Christmas truce of 1914. USA: Abdo Cunsulting Group Inc.

  • Van den Beld, A. (1988). Killing and the principle of double effect. Scottish Journal of Theology 41(1), 93–116.

  • Walzer, M. (1988) Terrorism: A critique of excuses, in: Walzer, M. (2004) Arguing about war, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 51–66.

  • Walzer, M. (2002) After 9/11: Five questions about terrorism, in: Walzer, M. (2004) Arguing about war, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 130–142.

  • Walzer, M. (2006) Just and unjust wars. A moral argument with historical illustrations (4th ed.), New York: Basic Books.

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  1. Libertas International University, J. F. Kennedy Square 6b, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Stipe Buzar

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Buzar, S. The Principle of Double Effect and Just War Theory. Philosophia 48, 1299–1312 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-020-00209-2

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