Blackwell Reference Online

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Human beings are reason seekers and reason givers. Moral discourse seems to require that people engaged in certain behaviors respond to queries by giving reasons that justify their actions (see chapter 6).War provides a particularly good example of this seeking and giving of reasons. The term is most properly used in connection with violence between established political communities. With some qualifications, it may also be used to describe violence within political communities (“civil” war) or conflicts between established communities and “non-state” actors (for example, terrorist groups.) Given this connection with politics, it is not surprising that the reason seeking and reason giving connected with war typically reflect political interests. Those who engage in war usually seek to fulfill political aims; for example, defending territory or protecting citizens' rights. Augustine of Hippo wrote: “No one goes to war except with the goal of attaining peace.” For Augustine, all human communities may be described as the embodiment of some balance between peace, order, and justice. War is thus a political activity, carried out with the aim of establishing, maintaining, or defending the pax-ordo-iustitia connected with particular political communities.With this in mind, the ancient association of religion and war hardly seems strange. Religious activity, like war, has political dimensions. ... log in or subscribe to read full text