St. Augustine's Just War

In class, we discussed St. Augustine, a philosopher during the Middle Ages, and his ideas about war. He believed that war was necessary in order to achieve peace. Furthermore, that war is a sin, but i he knew that it was inevitable. He thought the only rationalization for war was to hope to achieve peace. His seven rules for crusades were:

1. Last Resort
- A just war can only be initiated if all other non-violent options have been used.

2. Initiated by the government or a higher power
- A war is only just if an authoritative figure approves it as justified

3. Chance of success
- A war can only be fought if there is a chance of success deaths and injuries that occur during a just war are morally justified. Therefore, you cannot kill out of your own enjoyment, but those deaths that are being caused must have a valid reason

4. Right Intentions
- A just war can only be fought in order to redress a wrong suffered.
- The only objective of war is to solve the problem.
- Self-defense against an armed attack is always a just cause.

5. Re-establish peace
- The ultimate goal of a just war is to re-establish peace.
- War should improve peace that existed before the war or would exist if the war had never
been fought.

6. Proportionality
- You must use the minimum amount of force to obtain peace, your objective.

7. Don't Attack Civilians
- Civilians never target war, and all measures to avoid killing them should be used.
- Civilians deaths are justified only if they're unavoidable victims of an attack or a military target.


From these seven rules, we are able to justify a connection to Pope Urban II, hwo was responsible for initiated the Crusades. Pope Urban II qualifies as a higher power, and an authoritative figure, and therefore, the Crusades were justified.