SOURCE:

Faculty: Arts
Department: Philosophy

CONTRIBUTORS:

Okemuo, J. C.
Umeogu, B.

ABSTRACT:

This work examines wide-spread of political violence such as civil disobedience, riots, revolutions, wars and terrorism. “Violence, according to St. Augustine, Karl Marx, Engel, Tolsty and Clausewitz, is inevitable”, which means war is inescapable phenomenon. The argument is: what triggers the violence? Violence begins when the legitimacy of the state is challenged and the legal routes for voicing one’s dissent closed (citizens once again resort to violence). Since the reality of war is hell and horrible, the questions are: Could war ever be just? When, if ever, is it right to go to war? Can there be rules about war so that fair play is possible? Has there ever been a war with a just cause? From all indications, war is a natural and social reality which means “war, according to Marxism is not “a manifestation of any super-natural power outside human society”. What Marxism had in mind is that war is not a separate realm divorced from the rest of the society but an eminently human arena, full of the best and worst of human nature. This work maintains that war must be fought rationally. Therefore, the purpose of the laws of war is to protect both combatants and non-combatants from unnecessary suffering; to safeguard certain fundamental human rights of persons who fail into the hands of the enemy and to facilitate the restoration of peace. The observation from this work is that most of the modern wars are not waged rationally; therefore, the universal law of justice is needed in order to subject all wars under conscious and rational control. In order to solve the above problem, the work applies a moral theory called the “natural law theory” The natural law theory begins with the basic belief that individual has the right to live his life. From there, natural theorists draw a line between innocent lives of an unjust aggressor. The natural law theory recognizes legal and the moral concept of self-defense, which is often used to justify acts of war. The content of United Nation Organizations’ resolutions must reflect the letters of law of nature. Morality should regulate the mind which is the starting point of every war. The finding here is that the endpoint of every war is peace. When war is avoided, peace is achieved. If peace falls to stop great evil, suffering or fall to redeem the human rights already violated, war becomes the last resort. War becomes a necessity when human lives are in imminent danger. The aim of the military intervention is to save human lives. The work uses a philosophical method called a critical analysis which breaks complex words into simpler words. The work shall make use of both the primary and secondary sources; primary source comes from the writings of Tony Coady while the secondary source comes from the ideas of other philosophers.